Shadow Hunters
by SoulLoss
Summary: Chapter 28: "Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."-Winston Churchill
1. A Dark Mission

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter I

A Dark Mission

The soft footsteps echoed through the metal-lined corridor as the cloaked figure moved towards the training fields. The illumination for this hallway came not from light bulbs fixed to the ceiling, but from paper thin lines embedded in the walls that glowed with a pure white iridescence. Soon, however, it became evident that there was another source of light at the end of the passage. With the same soft-footed steps it had used before, the figure advanced out into the open sunshine. In the daylight the being's cloak was seen to be dark green in color but none of its facial features could be seen through the shadow of the cloak's hood. This was odd considering the wind that was causing the hood to ripple and flutter.

Just then shouts could be heard up ahead. It was mostly the chanting of spells.

"Ever-burning fire of purification, Lord of Destruction and Sign of Rebirth, gather in my hand and strike my enemy! Red Blaze!" 

"A bolt of lightning to cut through the night, spring forth from my hand and strike my enemy! White Lightning!" 

The sudden discharge of magical energy from the training field sent sparks into the air and a bang to the ears of everyone around. The green cloaked figure grimaced.

"That's Sati and Herald for you," came a deep masculine voice from inside the hood. "Always going all-out. Even when it's only mock combat."

The hooded man stopped when he saw the team he had come to find. All four were huddled together; two were standing and breathing normally while the other two were down on their knees and close to hyperventilating. All of them were between thirteen and fourteen years old, except for one of the two who were standing; she appeared to be around sixteen.

"That was a good move there, Herald," said the girl on the ground between huffs. "I never thought you'd be able to get off your lightning spell in time to counter my attack."

"Ya know, Sati," started the boy who was also grounded. "Nether did I. I figured you had me. Especially with those strings of yours keeping my legs pinned. I love your puppet-master tricks when we're on missions but in training I hate them!"

"Oh enough already," said the older girl who was towering over both of them. "Why must you guys take everything so seriously?"

"Well, we are Shadow Hunters," argued Sati. "We're always supposed to take things seriously."

"Yeah," added Herald. "Besides, not giving it your all against an enemy is fatal when on a job."

"Very true," said the green cloaked man, making his presence known. "But that's no excuse for getting careless during simple practice. As humiliating as it sounds I've seen some of our operatives badly injured while training because they dropped their guard."

The fourth member of the group, who had remained silent up to this point, bowed to the taller man. "I'm sure my teammates appreciate your advice, master," said the boy. "But I am fairly certain that, if you took the time to come here yourself, you must have an important mission for us."

"And so I do," replied the boy's master. "Our clients at the New England Magic Association have put forth a request for a team of Shadow Hunters to retrieve an artifact known as the Fang of Pain. If you choose to accept, you may want to start your search with a mage terrorist cell in Nigeria. It was the people of this cell who were the last ones to be seen with this object. That was ten years ago but they should still know something."

"What do you guys think?" asked the unnamed boy. "Feel like hunting down an item with a scary title?"

The response was a group nod.

"Very good then," replied the hooded man. He then regarded each of them in turn. "Team Delta members: Sati Singh, Herald Torgesen, Rebecca Clayton, and team leader Negi Springfield, you will have twenty-four hours to prepare for this assignment. Then you will depart the island using all standard stealth procedures. Good hunting."

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"_Another day, another dollar,"_ thought Negi as he packed his collection of back-up weapons. Included in this was a magic short sword (it was lighter that normal), a serrated hand knife, his antique magic gun (several bullets came with this), and his emergency catalyst supply. While he was fairly certain that he would need only his staff for this mission one could never be too sure in this business. _"I wonder what Asuna-san or the others would say if they knew where I ended up?"_ he mused. _"A top-level mercenary in the Shadow Hunters. Asuna-san probably wouldn't be too pleased, although Tatsumiya-san might get a kick out of it. When last we met I was terrified of her professional attitude. Now I've adapted one of my own. Life can be real funny sometimes."_

There was a knock at the door to his quarters just as he finished packing.

"Captain Negi," said Rebecca's voice. "The rest of us are all set. How about you?"

Negi walked over to the door and raised his hand to it. In reply the door slid away to reveal his three teammates, all rested and equipped for the coming mission.

"I'm ready," said the teacher-turned-mercenary. "Let's get going."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_(Time: 12:45 A.M. Place: Nigeria, City of Lagos, Underground Night Club)_

Two tall, lanky men stood in front of the elevator that led to the main hall of the compound. Dressed in suits and ties one might not guess that they were carrying portable wands in their pockets. Herald, however, knew this full well and was ready for anything that could happen as he approached.

"Hold it there, kid," said one of the guards. "What's a twerp like you doing in a place like this? Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"I don't have one," replied Herald smiling. "Most Shadow Hunters don't, you see. And anyway, I have an appointment with your boss."

The men stiffened. Anybody who's anybody in the criminal underworld had heard of the Shadow Hunters at some point. Being that they were an international mercenary organization and that most of their agents had twice the power of the average mage it was impossible not to know of them. But it was the fact that one of them was here without an invitation that made these world-hardened men want to run in fear.

One guard moved to press the alarm button sewn into the lining of his suit while the other pulled his wand and tried to fire an unincanted _Sagitta Magica_ spell.

Neither of them got very far as their limbs were suddenly tied together by wires and Herald bashed the men's heads into one another, knocking them out.

Sati dropped down from the ceiling as Negi and Rebecca walked into the light from the darkened corner where they had been standing. Not one of them spoke as they opened the elevator and stepped inside. The silence continued all throughout the trip downwards. It lasted until the group had departed the elevator, traveled the hallway between the meeting hall and the exit, and was standing behind the assembled terrorist cell.

At this point Negi called out, "Excuse me, we're looking for an item known as the Fang of Pain. By chance, have any of you heard of it?"

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An unusual first chapter. Please review. I want to know what I can do better.


	2. Past Loyalties

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter II

Past Loyalties

Just a few hours ago this room had been the base of operations for one of the most successful terrorist organizations in all of Africa. Now it was a smoking ruin thanks to the Shadow Hunters. The floor was littered with craters and the bodies of the cell's members all ether unconscious or dead. So it was that Sati, Herald, and Rebecca just watched as Negi delivered the final blow to the still resisting cell leader.

"**Come forth from the void, O Thunder, and cut down my enemy! Axe of Lightning!"**

Negi's lightning spell sliced right through the embattled man's barrier and hit him full on. Negi ignored his cry of agony. When the dust settled the team of Shadow Hunters strode forward to being the interrogation. Sadly the cell leader was one of those fanatics who would rather die than give information – _any_ information – to an enemy. So it was that, in the end, Negi and his subordinates had to use mind reading to get the info they needed. Of course the cell leader didn't have much of a brain afterwards but it wasn't something that could be helped.

"So…," began Rebecca. "These guys don't have what we're looking for. They had it as recently as two years ago but they sold it."

"Idiots," muttered Herald.

Negi, still trying to get what he could out of the cell leader's head, stated "Apparently… they don't know who they sold it to… but they do know where it ended up."

"How does that work?" asked Sati

"The buyer was wearing a mask and didn't give his name…" replied Negi. "But he did say where he would take it." There was a pause as the former teacher pressed his mental probe. Negi stood suddenly, surprising his group. "He was going to bring the Fang of Pain to the Kantō Magic Association!"

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Evangeline yawned. "There's nothing to do," she moaned. "Even messing with you people seems to be losing its luster." Eva was of course referring to Asuna, Setsuna, Konoka, Nodoka, Yue, and Haruna. All six girls had gathered at her resort and each was doing her own thing.

"Try reading something," suggested eighteen year-old Nodoka from across the room. "That usually cheers me up."

"I've already re-read every book, tablet, and scroll I own," answered Eva irritably.

"You could go over to Library Island," said Yue who was practicing her aim with Magic Arrows.

"I'm sick of reading," Eva sighed.

"Then do something else!" cried Asuna "Anything besides griping about how bored you are!"

Eva slowly turned to face Asuna. "You know… I think I just found something to keep me entertained."

"Well it's about ti…" started Asuna before realizing what the vampire had in mind. "Oh no… now wait a minute!"

What followed amounted to an indoor blizzard. The other girls barely had time to vacate the area before they were blasted by a wall of snow and ice.

"Wow," said Setsuna. "Evangeline-san is a raw nerve today."

"She does seem to be angrier today that usual," agreed Haruna.

"It isn't really an unexpected occurrence."

The five Ministra saw that a sixth had arrived; Chachamaru was walking up to the group looking somewhat melancholy. This could only mean something was bothering her as Chachamaru was a robot (albeit a thinking, feeling one) and didn't display emotion all that often.

"What do you mean it isn't unexpected?" asked Setsuna

"It is summer now, yes?" said Chachamaru "I have observed that master is often in her worst moods around the summer time."

"Well…" Konoka pondered. "Now that you mention it, Eva-chan does act more violent when the temperature starts to go up."

"Yeah, remember last year?" said Yue "She locked Nodoka, Haruna, and I up in the Arctic section for three days because she felt we hadn't been putting our hearts into attacking her practice dummies."

"Yes and when the rest of us questioned her on her methods she sealed us away in the desert section for four days," said Setsuna already sweating at the memory. "What is it about summer that makes Evangeline-san so testy?"

"My analysis shows that there is a high degree of probability of these outbursts being linked with…" Chachamaru stopped short.

"What, linked with what?" asked Haruna

Chachamaru's eyes dropped to the ground and looked as though they might start tearing up. "Well… w-wasn't it during the summer months t-that N-Negi-sensei…" the android trailed off.

Then everyone understood why Evangeline was acting as she was. In her own way, she was grieving. Grieving for the loss of her favorite apprentice.

All the girls then turned their heads downwards and had the same exact thought: _"Negi-sensei…"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The four Shadow Hunters sat gathered around a small puddle. Then Negi reached out and dropped a capsule into the water. Almost immediately the liquid began to bubble and change color to grey. When the process finished images began to form on the surface.

"Is this report really necessary?" asked Sati

"I hope so," said Rebecca. "Otherwise we've lost a good deal of time."

At last the pictures in the water came into focus and the same cloaked figure who sent the team on their current assignment asked "What is it? You guys usually don't check in before you can say 'Mission Accomplished'."

Negi quickly recounted their attack on the terrorist headquarters and the revelation that the Fang of Pain had been taken to Kantō Japan.

"I see," said Negi's hidden master. "The Kantō Association is large and powerful indeed. It's one of the more influential mage organizations in the Old World. Still, with your intimate knowledge of it and connections within it, you should have no trouble in getting the Fang from them… or are those very advantages the problem?"

Negi shook his head. "No sir. I've understood for a long time that being a Shadow Hunter held a strong possibility of bringing me into conflict with my former students. I contacted you to let you know that, if this mission succeeds, we'll probably lose a lot of potential clients in that area. I know you generally frown on losing business."

The hooded man waved a hand dismissively. "In this case it won't matter. Failure here would mean disappointing the New England Magic Association; one of our oldest and most reliable clients. We've been working for and getting paid by that particular institution since I started this little enterprise! It would be bad form to fail them now that we're so close to asking them to join with us in Project I."

Herald, Sati, and Rebecca's ears perked up at the mention of _that_ project. Negi knew what it was but not very many others did. It was the greatest secret of the Shadow Hunters.

"Okay master," said Negi. "Just making sure I'm not violating one of your rules."

"Very good," replied the leader of the Shadow Hunters. "Call back when you have the object so I can tell the New England wizards we've done it again."

The image of the dark green cloak faded as the puddle went back to being ordinary water.

"So now that we've gotten the go ahead," began Herald. "Exactly how are we going to go about taking the Fang from the Kantō Association? I doubt very much that a direct attack would work."

"Of course not," said Sati. "We sneak in and grab it."

"We don't even know where it is," abolished Rebecca.

While his teammates debated amongst themselves Negi was struck by inspiration. It was the most devious plan he had ever come up with for an operation and he was torn between patting himself on the back and punching himself for thinking of it. But this was an important mission and he was in-charge. So he really had no choice. He had to use this idea. But he still felt rather bad about it.

"_I'm a real stinker all right,"_ Negi thought as he turned to explain his strategy to the others.

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That's chapter two. Yes, it is rather bad isn't it?


	3. Arrival at Mahora

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter III

Arrival at Mahora

Konoka Konoe woke with a start. After all the power she'd had to use yesterday she was surprised at how much energy she had this morning. Not only did Asuna need healing for frostbite and blunt trauma but Evangeline made her fire nine hundred and ninety-nine magic arrows afterward. _"Which just goes to show you,"_ Konoka thought as she got out of bed, _"how big of an impact Negi-kun made on all of our lives."_

Figuring out why Eva was so grouchy had stirred up a lot of memories for everyone. When Negi Springfield first came to Mahora Academy some four years ago nearly every member of Middle School class 2-A was thrilled with the short, polite, innocent-faced young man. Even those initially resentful of him (Asuna, Eva, and Chisame) were eventually won over by his courage and commitment to his students (and in Eva's case by his desire to grow stronger). For six months Negi was both their teacher and a close friend. Then, during the summer, he vanished from the school and had not been heard from since. None of the girls ever even considered that the boy might have died in the incident that caused this sudden departure. With all the pactio cards still active everyone knew it was impossible for Negi not to be alive. So it seemed that, just like his father Nagi, Negi had vanished without a trace.

Konoka was crying at the sad ending. Then she shook her head and dashed away the tears. _"No, no, no,"_ thought the college student. _"That's not the end! We made a promise that we would find Negi-kun and his father! Can't get bogged down in sad memories! Must keep thinking happy thoughts!"_

Then, determined not to cry again for the rest of the day, Konoka walked to the bathroom she shared with Setsuna Sakurazaki and Zazie Rainyday. When the girls of class 3-A moved on to college the rooming arrangements were turned inside out. Konoka had at first been disappointed that she would not be Asuna's roommate anymore but was relieved to find Setsuna with her. It was always nice to have a familiar face around. But as the magic healer went about readying herself for the day she could not know of the girl who had just come to Mahora.

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"_Captain Negi wasn't kidding!"_ Rebecca said to herself. _"This campus is huge! Lucky for me the person I'm looking for has a house away from all this!"_ The Huntress strode forth ignoring morning rush hour. Weaving in and out of the shifting crowds, dressed in a loose-fitting T-shirt with blue jeans, and keeping her staff strapped to her hip with her belt, she drew the attention of only a few others. One of these was a Middle School boy by the name of Kotaro Inugami.

"_Never seen her around before,"_ thought Kotaro. _"I sense a good deal of magic around her and she seems rather serious. And that staff she has… maybe I better follow her."_

"I never pegged you as a girl watcher, Kotaro-kun, de-gozaru."

Kotaro jumped and spun around. Standing before him was Kaede Nagase and Mana Tatsumiya. "Don't do that, Kaede-nee-chan! It's not nice to sneak up on your allies!"

Kaede giggled. As a ninja being stealthy was second nature to her. "That's like asking a glacier not to be cold, de-gozaru," she replied. "But you're right about that girl. She is rather odd, de-gozaru."

"She seems to be trying to get somewhere quickly and without being noticed," said Mana. "That staff she's carrying doesn't inspire warm feelings either. I think we should tail her."

"All right," said Kaede.

"Yeah," agreed Kotaro.

The three friends discreetly took off after the girl who had already gotten far ahead of them.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

To their credit Herald and Sati were able to wait calmly for seven whole hours before they started using the trees around them for target practice.

"Be careful, you guys!" warned Negi. "If you make too much noise you're going to disturb the few people who live out here!"

"Sorry, Captain," called Sati.

"We'll try, but you know how we get when we're bored," said Herald. He punctuated this by smashing the nearest rock with his head. "I don't see why Rebecca gets to go out and have all the fun while the rest of us are trapped here!"

"If you can't see why at this point there's no way I could explain it to you," sighed Negi. "But just for argument's sake I'll try. I sent Rebecca because she isn't distracted easily and she can act."

"And we can't?" asked Sati, somewhat offended

"Oh, you can," replied Negi. "But Rebecca can do it much better and she enjoys it."

"Well, that's true," conceded Herald. "She's the only person I know who could tell you the names of every actor with a bit part in every movie made in the 1980's."

"Besides," said Negi. "Just because she doesn't train as… enthusiastically… as you two doesn't mean she isn't a great fighter."

"We know that," said Sati. "I know I wouldn't want to meet her as an enemy in a dark alley."

"And I pity anyone from your old school who gets in her way," added Herald.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Rebecca was not unaware of her pursuers. In fact she had marked them as strong opponents before they had even started following her.

"_Going by Captain Negi's descriptions…"_ thought the mercenary. _"The ones trailing me are Kaede Nagase, a ninja; Mana Tatsumiya, a gun and projectile user; and Kotaro Inugami, a half-demon who uses _Ki_ and dog spirits."_ Rebecca grinned in such a way that no one else could see it. _"They're making this phase of the plan too easy!"_

The teen had already made her way to the woods where Negi told her she must go. Now all she had to do was find one particular person, say what she was supposed to say, and then leave. But that didn't mean she couldn't mess with some of Negi's old comrades. In fact, it might make things easier.

"_Okay guys,"_ Rebecca said to herself. _"Let's see how you Kantō Association types stack up against the Shadow Hunters."_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"She's up to something," said Mana in a suspicious tone.

"It looks like she's headed towards Evangeline-dono's house," commented Kaede.

"Maybe Evangeline-san is her target?" speculated Kotaro.

Suddenly Rebecca cut around and called out, "If you're so interested in me, why don't you come over here and ask me to my face!"

Surprised but undeterred the three fighters walked out into the sunlight.

"So you caught us," said Kotaro. "Don't think that means you're off the hook. We'd like to know who you are and what you're doing here."

"I see," said Rebecca. "Why would you want to know something like that, hmm?"

"We don't see many strangers with magic auras as strong as yours," stated Mana. "And when they drop in unannounced… we get trigger-happy." Kaede glanced at Mana skeptically and the sniper relented. "Okay, _I_ get trigger-happy."

"Well… I suppose I can tell you who I am, Tatsumiya-san, as a professional curiosity."

"A professional…" started Mana. Before she could finish her question Rebecca had taken her wallet out of her pants pocket and held up a small card.

"Yes, Tatsumiya-san," said Rebecca with a smirk. "A professional curiosity from one mercenary to another. You see, I am a Shadow Hunter."

The visible stiffening in the dark-skinned woman's shoulders gave no hint of what was to come. In an instant Mana thrust cast aside her guitar case and aimed her rifle straight at Rebecca's heart.

"Does that upset you?"

"You don't usually react like that, Mana-dono, de-gozaru," said Kaede with furrowed eyebrows. "Care to fill Kotaro-kun and me in on what a 'shadow hunter' is?"

Mana, keeping her sights trained on Rebecca the whole time, replied, "They're a powerful organization of bounty hunters and mercenaries whose members are some of the most dangerous characters in the Magic World."

"Coming from you that's high praise," said Kotaro, already on edge. "I think we should bring her to the Headmaster."

Rebecca chuckled. "What makes you think I'll go peacefully? I still have a job to do."

"And what exactly is that job, de-gozaru?" asked Kaede.

"I have to make contact with an individual known as 'The Dark Evangel'," said the Huntress. "Perhaps you've heard of her?"

"What do you mean 'make contact with'? What do you want with Evangeline-dono, de-gozaru?"

"Well, here we have a problem," said Rebecca. "I'm not allowed to tell anyone until the mission is complete. I'm afraid I've got to end this game of twenty questions and be on my way."

As she turned to leave Rebecca saw a bullet embed itself in the ground in front of her foot.

"We never said you could leave, Shadow Hunter," growled Mana.

"And if you're planning something nasty for Evangeline-dono we can't let you leave," added Kaede.

"Not in one piece anyway," finished Kotaro, cracking his knuckles.

"All right," said Rebecca, trying to sound annoyed. "But just remember… you asked for it!"

Even as she twisted to attack, the lady Hunter was laughing internally. _"What fun it is to sucker other people into firing the first shot… no pun intended,"_ Rebecca thought. _"At this rate we'll have that Fang by the end of the week! Long live the Shadow Hunters!"_

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Konoka tensed for a moment. She was sure she had just felt something but it was already gone.

"Ojou-sama?" Setsuna asked next to her, worried. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, it's nothing…" Konoka trailed off, not knowing how to describe it.

"You don't sound too convinced, Ojou-sama," said Setsuna.

"It'll be fine, Set-chan," repeated the healer mage. "As long as you stop calling me Ojou-sama!"

Setsuna winced. "Sorry, Kono-chan. I forgot again."

Konoka waved her hand. "Never mind, Set-chan." She then looked at her watch. "Ahh! We have to get going now anyway! We promised Asuna we'd meet her at the movie theater in ten minutes! Let's go!"

The two friends sped away never once looking back.

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And so chapter three makes its debut. Please, if you see anything that can be improved, tell me A.S.A.P.


	4. Contest of Skill

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter IV

Contest of Skill

The sound of gunshot fire ripped through the peaceful stillness, sending birds flying and squirrels scampering up trees. The bullets ricocheted and bounced but not one of them hit their intended target: Rebecca Clayton, Shadow Hunter.

"_Blast it!"_ cursed Mana as she watched yet another volley of shots strike nothing save for air. _"She's too fast! Just one _Ground Contractor _after another! Those wind barriers aren't helping much eith…!"_ The sniper's train of thought was abruptly severed when Rebecca's leg kicked the end of her rifle, nearly knocking it out of her hands. Mana responded with her _Rakansen_ technique, only to see all five coins deflected by Rebecca's barrier and staff. _"The fight's been going on for twelve full minutes,"_ Mana thought, aggravated. _"We haven't hit her once!"_

"Come now," the Huntress taunted. "Surely the great Mana Tatsumiya can do better than this!"

That's when Kotaro and Kaede tried to double-team her. What they did not expect was for a mini-tornado to form around the girl, kicking up dust and causing the shrapnel left behind from the earlier attacks to fly in every direction. One hunk of wood bashed Kaede right in the head. When the wind ended Rebecca was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd she go?" asked Kotaro.

The dog-user got his answer when he felt something poke at his back.

"A Hundred Spirits of Air, Become a chain and bind my foe! Magic Arrows, a Binding Wind!" 

Kotaro's breath was soundly forced out of his lungs by the blast but he did not fall. How could he with one hundred magic chains holding him up and keeping his arms and legs pinned?

"Crap!" he muttered. "How did she…?" The half-demon let the rest of the question die in his throat. From what he could see the Shadow Hunter had touched the end of her staff to his back and then sent a hail of wind arrows down the weapon and into him. _"She did that to get her arrows around my _Ki _shield,"_ realized Kotaro. _"She knew that low-level spell wouldn't be worth squat against me otherwise. Now though…"_ he tried to break out of the trap, _"now even this low-grade spell is an effective attack! It will take me a whole minute to get out! What kind of opponent is this?"_

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Konoka's good time at the movie was briefly interrupted by another weird feeling. After barely meeting Asuna at the theater in time and missing all the opening previews the healer mage had entirely forgotten her previous odd experience. The last one had felt a little bit like someone was tugging on the back of her eyes. This one was like having a dull toothache in your arms. Then, just as quickly as it came, it was gone. And when it was over it left Konoka knowing it must mean something but she could not begin to imagine what.

"_I hope everything's okay,"_ she thought. _"I'd hate to think these strange feelings are a bad omen."_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"_T-this is bad, de-gozaru!"_

Kaede barely avoided her foe's staff as it soared past her skull. The Shadow Hunter had proven herself a worthy match for even their combined strength. After catching Kotaro with that clever combo (hadn't Negi-bozu once used something like that?) Rebecca had turned her attentions to the kunoichi. That was when Kaede discovered, rather suddenly, that wind spells weren't the only ones her enemy knew.

"Fifty Spirits of Ice, gather and rip my foe to pieces, Magic Arrows, Array of Ice!"

Kaede whirled the blades of her giant shuriken, smashing the projectiles into icy particles, but Rebecca wasn't through with her yet.

"You're strong!" the Huntress complimented, even as she used a second ice spell to freeze the ninja's hand to her weapon. "I don't usually find someone who can do _Ground Contractor_ as well as I can!"

"How nice for you," said Kaede dryly as she tried to free her hand from its prison. "Of course any trick becomes stale if you use it constantly, de-gozaru."

Rebecca laughed. "Haven't you noticed it's because I never stopped moving that you haven't been able to beat me?"

"Well, you have me there, de-gozaru," said Kaede grudgingly.

It was at this point that Mana chose to return to the battle. Rebecca jumped back with a startled cry of pain, clutching her left shoulder where the bullet had grazed it.

"Perhaps you should keep your mind on the game rather than gloating," growled Mana.

"I'll remember that," muttered the sniper's injured enemy.

A shattering noise then filled the air. Kotaro let out a war cry and charged the wounded girl. Rebecca fell back, only to find her assailant's friends blocking her escape.

"_Rats,"_ the Shadow Hunter mentally cursed. _"I let my guard down!"_

As the three Kantō affiliates closed in on their foe a large blasting sound was the last heard from the field of battle. It was over.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another bizarre sensation. This one was a moderate bout of dizziness. Konoka placed a hand to her head and blinked in reflex to the sudden feeling of rotation.

"_What's going on?"_ the college student asked herself. _"This is starting to get _really_ weird." _

Setsuna saw her friend's distress.

"Kono-chan?" she asked. "Are you all right?"

Asuna glanced over at the two. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure," answered Konoka. "All of a sudden I feel dizzy. I don't know why but-oh!" The spinning in Konoka's head underwent a dramatic increase in speed; it was so fast now that she began to feel faint. Then she saw something she shouldn't have been able to see from where she was. At first Konoka was at a loss as to what she was seeing. It took until almost the end of the vision for her to understand what it was: the path to Evangeline A.K. McDowell's cabin.

At last the sight faded and with it the dizziness also disappeared. There was no sign, internal or external, that the event had even taken place. Except, of course, for Konoka's memory of it.

"Come on," said the healer abruptly. "This isn't where we're supposed to be right now."

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It had taken a little time to convince the swordswomen to leave the movie but once Konoka said that whatever was happening had something to do with magic they quickly complied. Just as they were leaving, however, they (literally) ran into someone.

"Ahh, excuse me!" said Konoka. "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where… oh! Zazie-san!"

The appearance of the silent acrobat was a surprise. But it was what she had to say that was more surprising.

"I saw Kaede, Mana, and Kotaro follow a strange girl," she said. "They went that way."

Once the initial shock of hearing Zazie speak more than three words at a time had worn off, the trio thanked her and sped away.

"Why do you think Kaede and Mana would follow some random new girl off the street?" asked Asuna as they ran.

"They might have thought she was a threat," said Setsuna. "You know how many shady characters would like to establish themselves in this area."

Asuna caught the subtle message Setsuna was sending her. If there was a suspicious person on campus they could be there to kidnap Konoka. Nobody would forget their class trip to Kyoto, when a rogue mage of the Kansai Magic Association had taken Konoka away and used the great magic hidden inside her to bring a massive demon to life. It was only through bravery and the timely intervention of Evangeline that the day had been won. But they had known then, as they did now, that they wouldn't always be able to count on a last-second rescue and so were unwilling to reach such a state of desperation again. Thus Asuna readily agreed with Setsuna and sent a mute reply: _"We'll protect Konoka with our lives."_

All their stealth was wasted, however. Konoka knew full well what had passed between her two friends and said, "You don't need to worry. We don't even know if there _is_ any danger yet."

"B-but Ojou-sama," asked her guardian. "What about your vision? How could there not be danger with something like that happening?"

"We won't know until we get there," insisted Konoka, ignoring her formal title.

Asuna and Setsuna exchanged a worried glance. Both of them felt in their gut that something was wrong, but Konoka didn't share the feeling. That might be a problem.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The three Ministra had finally reached the dirt road that would take them to Evangeline's off-campus residence. Before they got there, though, Setsuna noticed an anomaly. In a clearing, off the side of the path, was a section of forest that seemed to _bend_ somehow. It was like looking through curved glass.

"Hold on," said Setsuna stopping. "What is that?"

Asuna and Konoka turned to see the oddity.

"I don't know," said Konoka. "It looks like some kind of magical illusion."

"Magic, huh," grinned Asuna. "Stand back, you guys!"

Before either of her friends could say a word, Asuna rushed over to the affected region and swung her fist right at it. Her arm collided with something very solid. Asuna pressed her strike, triggering her unique _Magic Cancel_ ability. The object she had hit was revealed to be a whirlwind which was rapidly giving way under her attack. Finally the spiraling column collapsed and three figures were released.

"Kaede! Mana! Kotaro! What were you doing in there?" Asuna asked, confused by the find.

"Forming a sewing circle," said Mana sourly.

"Where is she?" Kotaro hissed.

"Where's who?" asked Konoka, coming to the scene.

Kaede, who was the calmest of the three who had been trapped, said, "Well, it happened like this…"

XXXXXXXXXXX

_Mere seconds prior to her opponent's blows connecting, Rebecca had pulled a strange device out of thin air. It almost looked like a mini-bagpipe. The artifact activated in the same instant the attacks struck; only the attacks hit a magically created clone and the artifact unleashed a wind magic that quickly enveloped the frustrated assailants. _

_On the outside of the vortex Rebecca appeared in the air and landed still clutching her bleeding shoulder. After some quick first aid the Huntress ran off again, leaving her foes caught up in the wind. _

XXXXXXXXXXX

"The little coward," muttered Mana.

"It sorta seems like you're just upset that you let yourself get overconfident," said Asuna.

Mana sent the redhead an icy glare but didn't say anything. How could she when she knew Asuna spoke the truth? She had let her guard down around a Shadow Hunter and it had cost her. The sniper's broodings were cut short by Setsuna's voice.

"What about Evangeline-san? Didn't you say that this 'Shadow Hunter' wanted something from her?"

"Yes, we should move on to see if Evangeline-dono needs help, de-gozaru," said Kaede, maintaining her serious demeanor.

Mana felt as though she should slap herself. First she slacked off in a potentially fatal fight and then forgot what her enemy's goal was because she was busy sulking. _"This just isn't my day,"_ she thought to herself.

"Okay you guys!" cheered Asuna. "Let's go right now! Eva-chan might be in trouble!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Negi watched, uninterested, as Sati idly used her puppet master skills to fling fallen tree trunks around. At the same time Herald was attempting to balance a rock twice the size of his head on his nose. _"Wow, things are boring when we're not all together,"_ thought Negi.

Then, at very long last, Rebecca returned from her errand.

"I'm hoooome," she called as Sati and Herald rushed to question her.

"What took you so long?" asked Sati.

"It was… tougher than I thought it would be," said Rebecca.

"So you let yourself get careless again," said Herald with a smirk. "You go off on me and Sati whenever we get carried away but you can drop your guard anytime you feel like it."

"Oh shut up," said Rebecca irritably.

"Never mind how long it took," interrupted Negi. "Did you meet with Eva and make the offer?"

"Of course I did," said Rebecca tiredly. Then Negi gave her a look and she stammered, "I-I m-mean 'Yes sir, I did, Captain Negi, sir'!"

Negi nodded. "That's better."

"So now what?" asked Herald.

"More waiting," replied Negi. "We have to see what the Kantō Association will do."

The former teacher turned and left before he could get swept up in the wave of disapproval he knew would come from his team. While the argument began Negi looked at the sky and said only one thing: "Now, my former master, I believe the next move belongs to either you or Dean Konoe." 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter four is finished. I think I must have really messed up the last chapter as there where no reviews. I hope this was better.


	5. Planning for the Future

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter V

Planning for the Future

Most days Evangeline A.K. McDowell was completely focused and knew just what she wanted. Today was not one of those days. In fact, at the moment, she looked to be in a daze. She paced the floor, clenching her fists and talking incoherently to herself while unconsciously bumping into furniture. Following an uncommon knock at the door a stranger had walked in and requested to talk to Eva privately. For amusement purposes Eva had agreed, only to return five minutes later in the worst state of shock she had ever been seen in. Chachamaru, Chachazero, and Chamo could only watch as Mahora's resident blood sucker continued to freak out in her own way.

"_What on earth did that chick say to Evangeline-san to make her act like this?"_ Chamo asked in his head. After the accident that caused Negi to leave the school four years ago his animal familiar had had to move in with Eva and her two Ministra. It was not an arrangement he was very fond of (except for talking with Chachazero) but it kept the sins of his past from catching up with him. _"Most of them,"_ he added bitterly.

Just then the door swung open with a bang and Asuna rushed in, her giant sword drawn. Amazingly it was Eva who jumped at this intrusion. "W-wait a…! What are you doing here, Kagurazaka?"

Chamo, however, didn't flinch. "Hello, Asuna ane-san," he said casually. "What brings you here?"

"What do you mean 'what brings you here'?" demanded Asuna. "Haven't you seen a suspicious girl hanging around here? We came here looking for her!"

"We?" asked Chachazero from her perch on Chachamaru's head. Then the puppet Ministra saw that the redhead had brought about half of the gang along. "Oh, I should have known."

"Mana-san, Kotaro-kun, and I were just fighting a girl who said she was here for Evangeline-san, de-gozaru," said Kaede.

"According to my data there is a ninety-six percent chance that this girl you were fighting is the same one who was here only a few minutes ago," said Chachamaru.

"Yeah," added Chamo. "That strange nee-chan just showed up out of nowhere wanting to see Evangeline-san. They went upstairs, talked for maybe five minutes, and then the new kid left as fast as she could, leaving Eva-chan acting really funny."

"Well, you'd be little distracted too," said Eva coming back to the real world, "if you had heard what that brat had to say. As a matter of fact you probably wouldn't take it as well as me."

"What did she want?" asked Setsuna.

"Well, this'll probably hand you lot a few laughs," said the vampire. "She wants something that I can give to her, but doing so will put me in Dutch with old man Konoe. And at the same time she has something that, as much as I hate to admit it, I greatly desire and she is willing to exchange it for what she wants."

"That _is_ a dilemma," said Asuna, putting her sword away.

"Look, let's attack this thing rationally," said Chamo. "What is it that this nee-chan has that you want so badly?"

Eva's face was filled with a number of different emotions: frustration, anxiety, elation, and something else. Something that hadn't been seen on her face in years. Hope.

"Information," she answered. "She has offered me information on both the Thousand Master and that dumb Boya who had the nerve to be my apprentice."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Said dumb Boya was currently enjoying an iced coffee while watching his subordinates debate who should be sent to Mahora next.

"I think I should go," Sati was saying. "I've never met Evangeline-sempai before! I'd love a chance to see her in action as a fellow puppet master!"

"No way!" exclaimed Herald. "If anyone gets to go it should be me! I've been dying for an opportunity to fight the Captain's old martial arts instructor!" The boy paused for a moment. "What was her name again?" he asked Negi.

"It's Kū Fei," returned the team leader. "And there's no point in saying 'I should be the one to go' because you're all going."

"Well, that's one way to make everybody happy," said Rebecca, smiling at Herald and Sati's stunned silence.

The quiet did not last long however.

"It's about time!" Both of them shouted, jumping to their feet.

"Keep it down!" hissed Rebecca.

Negi shook his head and chuckled. This was part of the reason these three were chosen as his squad. Herald and Sati were both excitable types and this carried over to their fighting styles. Herald used lightning magic to enhance his already lethal physical attacks, and Sati combined fire magic with her puppet skills. Both of them were highly dangerous in battle but their impatient nature made it easier for them to fall into traps. Hence, Rebecca had been added. The older girl possessed great ability with her staff and was even better with wind spells than he was. She also had a more relaxed demeanor, making it less likely she would become baited by an enemy. However that relaxed mind-set sometimes led her to drop her guard in the middle of a fight (which had apparently happened when she ran into Tatsumiya-san, Nagase-san, and Kotaro-kun as she had come back with a shoulder wound and without the _very_ rare 'whirlwind prison bag' artifact his master had given him to give to her). These balanced flaws meant that the team could function better but also meant that, without a reliable combat strategy, it would be relatively simple to mount an effective counter-attack. So Negi was put on the team to call the shots, devise plans, and lead the others into battle. His new master, the Shadow Hunter leader, had shown him how he could put his natural talent for warfare to use and Negi found he rather enjoyed being useful to both his clients and fellow Hunters.

That didn't completely erase the guilt he felt for deceiving his former students but he had chosen his path years ago and had no intention of stopping now.

Throwing his now empty iced coffee cup away, Negi rose. "All right, guys," he said, interrupting the chat they were having. "Here's what you're going to do when you get to the academy…"

"Ah…! Wait a minute, Captain!" said Herald. "There's a messenger bird coming!"

Negi turned to see a small black bird flying towards the group. The Avian, which could not be seen by mundane people, was carrying a lone piece of paper in its beak. When it was directly over them the bird released its cargo and returned from whence it came. Sati grabbed the paper out of the air and gave it the once over. She then looked at Negi and said, "It's a postcard from your father."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Information on Nagi and Negi Springfield?" cried Konoemon

"That's right, old man," said Eva with a frown. "And that means current info, not just the outdated drivel that we have."

"How could she know about those two when we don't?" asked the very troubled Dean.

"That girl is a Shadow Hunter," Mana spoke up. "Their organization is one of the most powerful. There is very little they do not know."

Konoemon grunted. This was most certainly not what he had been expecting when Evangeline, Tatsumiya-san, his granddaughter, and several others from their old class came through the door to his office. For a member of a known mercenary group to show up in such a manner as this…"What is it this Hunter said she wanted?" he asked.

"She said she wanted that Fang of Pain you locked up about two years ago," replied Eva.

The Dean gave a sigh. "That is one of the few things I will not give up. Not even to learn about Negi-kun and his father."

"Wha…b-but grandpa!" started Konoka.

"No buts!" snapped Konoemon. "You have no idea what that item can do! It must remain where it is!"

Once the shock of hearing Konoemon yell at his grandchild wore off Setsuna asked, "What's so dangerous about this thing?"

"The Fang of Pain is named so because of what it does," said Konoemon looking grim. "The artifact actually takes the sadness and grief a person is feeling and stores it away inside itself. This might not sound terrible and on its own it isn't. But the Fang can also reinsert that emotional stress into another and thus is a very effective tool for both interrogation and battle. I had one of our agents retrieve the thing so I could seal it away and be done with it. I couldn't risk such a powerful object falling into evil hands."

After a few moments quiet to absorb this little tidbit Asuna said: "Still, as Negi's partners, we have a responsibility to find out anything we can about him and to protect him from anything that might hurt him." Then she added, in a softer voice, "It's a responsibility I failed in last time."

The silence that followed was deafening. After a full minute of the almost oppressive lack of noise Konoemon replied: "Even so, I can not allow the Fang to be claimed by such a morally questionable group as the Shadow Hunters. Not when it is within my power to prevent."

"So you're just going to abandon the first chance we've had to find out about Negi in four years?" yelled Kotaro.

The Dean pondered this. "It will be rather underhanded… but there might be a way to keep the Fang from those who would misuse it and still obtain the info on Negi-kun."

"How can we do that, de-gozaru?" asked Kaede.

Eva smiled her evil smile. "Don't worry. I think I know what he has in mind."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

_(Time: 9:15 P.M. Place: Boston, Massachusetts, upscale restaurant)_

It was the sort of eating establishment that needed you to make a reservation two weeks in advance. All the silverware was just that, the curtains were made from silk, and all the tablecloths were linen. None of this mattered in the long run, however,as the true importance of this building was found in the people who were meeting inside of it.

"Well, this Project Infinity of yours certainly sounds like it will be most profitable, Master Aleric… if it works."

The man addressed as Aleric gave a slight grin and said, "That is the key question isn't it? But then, you must ask yourself, have I ever steered you wrong before?"

The other man leaned forward saying, "While it is true that you and your Shadow Hunters have never failed the New England Magic Association in the past you must know that this idea of yours is… how shall I put it?... more world shaking than anything else you've ever attempted."

Aleric, leader of the Shadow Hunters and master of Negi Springfield, gave a full grin this time and replied, "It is rather life altering. That is exactly why it will work. That is why we need your assistance. Once we have it, and once the plan comes to fruition, no one will ever be able to challenge your organization's authority again."

"What about the heiress to the Kansai Association?" queried Aleric's client. "Couldn't she have some kind of importance in this scheme of yours?"

"You needn't worry," assured the head Hunter. "I've already factored that in and I'm keeping a very close eye on her. I get a report on her progress in magic every week."

The head of the New England Association mulled all this over. "It's too soon for me to make any decisions," he said at length. "At the very least we'll wait until your star pupil returns from Kantō with the Fang."

Aleric nodded. "Of course, I understand. This is not a choice easily made. Please take all the time you require. In the meantime it looks as though dinner is served. Let's not talk business during such a pleasant experience."

The waiters brought the two leaders various foodstuffs and a bottle of white wine even as others were moving to complete their grand designs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rebecca, Sati, and Herald looked down at Mahora Academy from the top of the World Tree. The light of the full moon created an eerie backdrop for this scene.

"This is some view," whispered Sati.

"I'm having trouble believing the Captain was once a teacher here," said Herald.

"Okay, okay," interrupted Rebecca. "We all know it's impressive, but we have a job to do. Go ahead to your positions. I'll see to things here."

All three Hunters disappeared without a sound, leaving only scattered leaves in their wake.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

There's chapter five. Things seem to be picking up. 


	6. Raiding Party

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter VI

Raiding Party

Rebecca stood in the center of the World Tree Plaza as Eva approached, backed by Chachamaru.

"_Looks like the Captain was right again,"_ she thought to herself.

"Hello, Hunter," said Eva. "Are you ready to tell me about the Springfields?"

"Did you bring the Fang?" asked Rebecca.

"No, I didn't," returned the vampire. "You tell me about the Thousand Master and the Boya first."

"If you didn't bring the Fang itself," started the Huntress, "you must at least tell me where it can be found so I can get it. When I get my Fang you'll get your info."

"Oh fine," said Eva frustrated. "The Fang is located at the bottom of the lake surrounding Library Island, hidden by a concealment barrier, and held in place by a high-level magic seal. Now about that information…"

"Hold your horses," Rebecca cut Eva off. "I have to have the artifact in my hand before I tell you anything. Wait right here. I'll be back to tell you everything in a moment."

As Rebecca began to leave Chachamaru used _Instant Movement_ to appear in her path.

"Well, I tried to be nice," sighed Eva. "You're not going anywhere until I hear about the Thousand Master and his son."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rebecca, already knowing the answer.

"It means when you make a deal with an evil mage," said Eva with a smirk, "you'd better be ready to get double-crossed."

"What makes you think you can keep me here?" retorted the Huntress. "Even if it is the full moon your power is still far too low to be a match for me."

"Underpowered I may be," said Eva. "But not only do I have a partner when you are alone, there are a number of magi from this school in the area around us. Seems Dean Konoe really doesn't want you to have that Fang so he set up this little ambush. You can't win outnumbered as you are."

Rebecca gave a fierce grin. "I beg to differ."

At that moment Evangeline found herself roughly lifted into the air and thrown across the plaza.

"Master…" began Chachamaru before being knocked into a nearby wall by a magic-enhanced blow from Rebecca's staff.

"You didn't think I'd fall for an obvious trap like that, did you?" hissed Rebecca.

That's when a tall blond woman wielding a sword appeared in the air. She wouldn't be of much help to anybody though, as she crashed to the ground, her blade skidding away on the pavement, and lay still. Even from a distance of three meters one could see that her right arm was broken.

Herald landed before the fallen swordswoman a moment later. "These Kantō Association types are easy pickens when they don't know you're coming!" He said this with a certain amount of disappointment.

"Why you little…!" started Evangeline as she rose to her feet. It was a short trip as she was once again sent airborne by an unseen force. This time, however, she went much farther and tumbled out of sight.

"No, Master!" cried Chachamaru. The robot tried to go after the vampire but was blocked by Herald.

"The Dark Evangel has survived many years without you," said the Hunter. "A few minutes more won't hurt."

"You!" yelled Chachamaru, aiming a kick at her foe. Herald dodged and caught her follow-up punch. Before the Ministra could do anything else Herald unleashed his lightning. But instead of its usual effect of zapping his opponent the magic energy ran up Chachamaru's arm and began to refill her power core. Normally this would have been a bad thing for the Hunter but the gynoid was almost at full power already. The magic he forced into her system caused Chachamaru to overload and shut down.

As his enemy crumpled to the ground Herald said, "I wish I had more time to fight fairly. But this mission is important and I can't risk failure out of fairness."

Rebecca ran past, calling out, "I'll confirm the location of that seal! You intercept anyone else who wants to fight and make sure Sati keeps Evangeline moving towards the lake!"

"I know!" replied Herald. "I remember what the Captain said!"

Rebecca nodded and was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Evangeline landed flat on her face.

"Whoever did that is dead!" said the Undying Magi as she rose. Without warning Eva's left arm twisted around and was held behind her back.

"You might not want to make promises you can't keep, Evangeline-sempai," came Sati's voice. "After all if you had just brought the Fang to us you wouldn't be in this fix."

For the first time Eva saw her captor. Sati stood several feet away, her black hair fluttering in the breeze. Eva quickly discerned how she had been bound.

"Interesting…" said Eva freeing her limb from the strings. "It's not often that I find another puppet master." Evangeline immediately retaliated with her own wires.

What followed amounted to the greatest duel of doll users in years. Sati flipped Eva into a tree, only to find her legs tied together a second afterwards. Eva sent a barrage of threads and pinned the Huntress to the ground but was turned upside-down when she tried to jump out of the tree. Sati released her bonds and jumped to attention in time to catch her rival by the throat even as she turned right-side up again. Eva gagged and pulled her arm backwards. Sati's arms were yanked forwards and she barely avoided falling but it gave Evangeline time to escape. The Shadow Hunter, now very close to the vampire, pointed her hand at her foe and began to chant. _"Oh, crud,"_ thought Eva, going for her catalysts.

"Ever-burning fire of purification, Lord of Destruction and Sign of Rebirth, gather in my hand and strike my enemy! Red Blaze!" 

"Frozen Barrier!" 

Sati's fire attack hit Evangeline's ice shield full on. Had Evangeline had access to her full powers her defensive spell would have easily repelled the flames. But as it was Sati was the one with the greater magical power, and that meant her fire beat Eva's ice. The vampire was blown back, her strings incinerated, her hair singed, and her pride dented.

"You're not normal," she spat at Sati. "Such mastery of the doll user arts at your age… where did you learn all that?"

"I picked it up from my grandfather," said the Huntress. "He lives in Transylvania and is a big fan of yours. I came to see him once when I was very young and he showed me this rare form of fighting. I picked it up overnight. He always said, 'Sati, you have the greatest talent for this that I've ever seen.' He is such a generous man."

Eva growled. "I'll admit you've got some serious skills," she said grudgingly. "But you're still up against me, the Dark Evangel. I have been through more battles than you ever will! You should never have challenged…" A stick, guided by one of Sati's wires, struck Eva in the back of the head, stopping her rant.

"And yet you still have an over-inflated ego," sneered the girl. "Stop talking and start fighting!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"This waiting is killing me!" moaned Asuna. "Why do we have to sit here getting dusty while Eva-chan and Chachamaru get to have all the fun?"

"It's part of the plan," said Setsuna calmly. "We must remain here while Evangeline-san, Chachamaru-san, and the mage teachers deal with that Shadow Hunter. I understand your frustration though. I think most of us here do."

Asuna looked around at the group that had gathered for this occasion. It was mostly members of the former class 3-A who had come to the Dean's office to wait. Setsuna and Konoka sat next to her on the couch. Across the room Nodoka, Yue, and Haruna had gathered. Nodoka seemed to be trying to distract herself but from the look on her face it wasn't working. Yue was also attempting to appear serene but her occasional fidget and nervous glance at Nodoka shattered that illusion. Haruna was probably the calmest of the three, if only because she was making no attempt to hide her emotions. She was rapidly scribbling in her sketch book, trying to catch the faces of the people around her. Asuna then looked over to her right and saw the others. Kaede, Mana, Kū Fei, Chamo, and Kotaro were all on that side of the room. Mana and Kaede were cool as cucumbers. Kū was bouncing her knees while Chamo sat on top of Kotaro's shoulder and said dog-user looked like he was ready to explode.

Suddenly the door opened and everybody jumped.

"Sorry guys," apologized Takamichi. "I just thought I would see how everything's going."

"Slowly," replied Mana. "I still think we should've gone out ourselves. That girl isn't going to talk without putting up one hell of a fight first."

"I agree," said Kotaro. "Anyone who can fend off Captain Tatsumiya and Kaede-nee-chan plus me for as long as she did can certainly deal with superior numbers."

Takamichi gave a sympathetic smile. "Well, we can go down there to check things out if you're worried."

"Yes!" shouted the entire group.

"Well, okay then," said the teacher, trying to regain his hearing.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Walking brought a sense of relief to the anxiety. After sitting still in the Dean's office for what felt like hours the motion was a welcome respite from the stillness of before.

The relief ended when Misora Kasuga ran straight into Takamichi while using her artifact to dash across the campus. The _iaiken_ was staggered for a moment, whereas the college girl fell on her butt.

"Ah! Takahata-sensei! Everyone!" cried Misora. "You guys better come quick! It's bad!"

"What happened?" asked Takamichi.

"All the people who were going to help Evangeline-san with that mercenary have been attacked!" shouted the nun/mage. "Hurry!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

The first of the downed Kantō magi found by Takamichi's group were Gandolfini and Mitsuru. Both looked like they had been felled by solid blows to the back of the head.

As Konoka began to heal the fallen instructors Yue asked, "How could one person beat all of the mage teachers? It doesn't make sense!"

"Maybe it wasn't one person," guessed Kaede. "From the look of Gandolfini-sensei and Mitsuru-sensei they were taken totally by surprise, de-gozaru. As that girl was the one who was supposed to be out in the open I'd say that either she has the ability to use shadow clones or a few of her fellows came along, de-gozaru."

"If she could use shadow clones why didn't she during her last visit?" asked Kotaro. "She probably brought some of her friends here as insurance."

"Does anyone know this girl's name?" queried Nodoka. "If I have her name I can…"

"She never gave it," Mana stopped the bookworm.

"Well, we can't just stand here," said Takamichi. "Mana-kun, you and I will move on to where the Fang is being kept. We'll see if we can't catch that Shadow Hunter before she gets there. I want everyone else to stay in and around the area of the main plaza and search for anyone else that needs healing. If you encounter enemies let everybody know about it. Don't try to take them on all by yourself. Are we clear?"

The girls and Kotaro all nodded.

"All right, let's go, Mana-kun," Takamichi said before both he and the sniper took off.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Evangeline held her right side, gasping for breath. That last blast of fire had not been pleasant. Only a combination of quick reflexes and blind luck had saved her from a direct hit to the chest, which would have been infinitely worse.

"_Look at me,"_ Eva thought sourly. _"The great Evangeline A.K. McDowell, The Queen of the Night, The Apostle of Destruction, reduced to this! With my magic cut off I'm little more that this… this _child's_ moving punching bag! If I could just get her into close combat I'd teach her the value of five centuries' worth of battle experience!"_

For her part Sati was enjoying the fight. She knew well her foe's mastery of Aikido and therefore was determined not to get too close. Sati had no doubt that the vampire could pull out a victory if it came down to pure physical ability. _"And I'm not fool enough to let that happen,"_ the fire magic-user reminded herself. _"In mid-to-long range combat it's the amount of magic you have and how fast you can dish it out that count. And she's going to run out of catalysts sooner or later. But I haven't got the time to wait for that so I'd better end this now."_

XXXXXXXXXXX

On their way to the lake where Library Island sat Takamichi and Mana had been attacked by Herald. Mana went on ahead while Takamichi took on the uninvited guest. Now massive, _kanka_ enhanced _iaiken_ blasts dented the earth as magic lightning peppered the air.

"_I wasn't expecting to fight Death Glasses Takahata so soon,"_ thought the Hunter. _"I'll have to make this short. Otherwise he's gonna…"_

Takahata's latest _iaiken_ nearly drove Herald into the ground.

"_Otherwise he's gonna make it short. And I don't think I'll like the ending he'll want,"_ finished Herald. The mercenary retaliated with forty thunder arrows which Takamichi avoided with _Instant Movement_. He reappeared close to his enemy and assailed him with his invisible _iaiken_ but found Herald to be sturdier than anticipated. Still on his feet the lightning magic-user took a stance with one arm pointed toward the sky, the other toward the ground, and the left leg in the air. Takamichi recognized the pose for the _Vital Step_ technique, but too late as Herald was suddenly far too close for his _iaiken_ attacks to be effective. Grabbing the teacher by the collar Herald slammed his head into Takamichi's, staggering the man. Being more prepared for the unconventional move Herald recovered first and sent his fist into Takamichi's gut while simultaneously releasing an unincanted _White Lightning_ spell.

The _iaiken_-user landed on his back and slid five feet. Once he stopped he attempted to shove his hands back into his pockets until he saw it would do no good; the Shadow Hunter was already gone.

"_His goal was to delay, not destroy,"_ realized Takamichi. The fighter tested his body a little. _"He used blunt blows on a number of sensitive areas and a lightning spell on top of those to cause numbness. Clever boy. Now it will take longer for me to get to Mana-kun to help. Really a pity such a talented combatant is on the wrong side."_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Haven't we done this once before?" asked Rebecca, moving to avoid Mana's fire. It wasn't so easy this time. The gun-user had switched her normal rounds for scatter-shot. Rebecca had to widen her barrier to compensate, but it still proved troublesome.

Mana watched her rival's new struggles with a grim satisfaction. _"Not so cocky now, are we?"_ she mentally taunted.

"_That's right, gloat, ya big ox,"_ Rebecca said to herself. _"You won't be smiling much longer. I've already determined exactly where the Fang is so…"_

A large explosion echoed through the air. Both Mana and Rebecca turned to see Evangeline fly out of a cloud of smoke and roll to a stop. From the look of her she had had a close encounter with an active furnace. Her skin was covered in angry red burns and her clothes were rather tattered. Sati appeared a second later.

"Well, that was fun," breathed the girl.

"I should have known you wouldn't go through with the deal," said Mana. "Your organization has a certain reputation for stabbing their non-consistent clients in the back, after all."

"And I heard that you mess around," retorted Rebecca. "Besides, your Dean is the one who broke the deal. If you had just brought the Fang to us in the first place it wouldn't have come to this."

That's when Herald came sprinting out of the distance. "Death Glasses is coming!" he shouted.

Sati and Rebecca needed no further incentive. They joined their teammate in his thousand-yard dash just in time. Takamichi, followed by several of the others (including a revived Chachamaru), arrived moments later. The long-range _iaiken_ came down like an afternoon shower.

"Get behind me! Activate the teleportation talismans right now!" cried Rebecca. Herald and Sati did as bidden while their senior moved to the front of the line. Takamichi must have seen that it was his last chance and fired off five _iaiken_ at once. Rebecca took a deep breath and put all the magic she could muster into her barrier, even as she twirled her staff in circles. The wall of air hit the huntress's shield and was repelled but the strain on its owner was tremendous. She had almost collapsed when she felt Sati place one of the talismans on her back and everything around her dissolved in a spinning mass of color.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

And that's chapter six!


	7. Reunion

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter VII

Reunion

It had been almost seventy-two hours since the failed attempt at capturing the Shadow Hunters, and nothing had turned up. At all. It was infuriating to say the least. Especially for Asuna.

"Why couldn't the Dean just let the little creeps have the wretched thing?" shouted Asuna, working herself into a snit. "Wouldn't it be worth losing if we could find out about Negi?"

"Possibly," said Yue in a contemplative voice. "But you do remember what he said it was capable of, don't you? With it, you can inflict the worst kind of suffering at the drop of a hat. As a responsible mage and a good man could you really expect the Dean to give it away to such a questionable crowd?"

Asuna made a frustrated groan but said nothing. Yue was right, of course.

"But… I know how tough it is to be so close to Negi-sensei after so long and end up nowhere again," the blue-haired girl continued, her features slipping into sadness.

Asuna's mismatched eyes moved to stare at the floor. "Yeah…" she mumbled.

Yue winced at the subdued reaction. "However, there's nothing we can do about that now. Our best bet is to catch those guys when they come back for the Fang. Tatsumiya-san has assured me that they will try to steal it now."

Once Asuna wrapped her mind around the concept of 'cheer up, we're going to be attacked by mercenaries!' she understood what Yue meant. They still had a chance to get that info on Negi and his father. But to do it she would have to pull herself together and fight. Asuna wouldn't allow herself to hesitate at such a critical time. _"Me hesitating is part of what caused Negi-bozu to leave in the first place,"_ the redhead remembered darkly. Pulling her eyes off the ground Asuna stood up straight, clenched her fist, and cried, "Yes! We'll beat the snot out of those hired guns and make them tell us where Negi is!"

This proclamation was followed by the door to their room opening and Nodoka Miyazaki stepping in. Having heard the battle cry through the wood Nodoka said, "Um, Asuna-san? You might not want to say that in front of Tatsumiya-san. After all, she's a 'hired gun' too."

"Good thinking, Honya-chan," said Asuna, calming down. "I wouldn't want to offend the girl with live ammo."

Yue and Nodoka both smiled. The happy expressions didn't last long, however, as both library girls sensed a tremendous shift in Mahora's magical barrier. With the knowledge the two had gained from training with Evangeline and their own experiences with magic, they could tell immediately that the change was not a natural function of the field. Furthermore, there was something forced about it. As if someone from the outside had pushed the barrier into its current form against the will of the Dean.

Asuna, although not able to sense alterations to the school's barrier due to not being a mage, knew there was something wrong from her roommates' expressions. "What is it?" she asked.

"Get your Pactio card," replied Yue abruptly. "I think the Shadow Hunters are back. And I doubt very much that they're here to talk."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The attack was working perfectly. Rebecca and Sati's strike at the academy's security center had met with minimal resistance. Now the school's barrier was under the control of the Shadow Hunters and, with a few severed cables and three or four ruined keyboards, it would be impossible for even Chachamaru and Chisame to restore the system quickly. Meanwhile Herald and Negi's advance against the guards on the lakefront had seen success as well. The mage teachers of Mahora were strong, tough fighters but they didn't have the killer instinct that the Hunters did. Add on to that the shock of seeing Negi Springfield, once the popular child teacher of class 3-A, as a ruthless mercenary sent to destroy them and the defensive line lasted a mere five minutes. Only one of the teachers was left.

"What's the meaning of this, Negi-kun?" asked a winded Takamichi.

"My team and I are here to claim the Fang of Pain, Takamichi," replied Negi with a frown. "What don't you get?"

"What I don't get is why," answered the _iaiken_-user. "Why are you working with them?"

"People change, Takamichi," said the son of the Thousand Master. "I'm a Shadow Hunter now. It's my job to remove that artifact and bring it to my employers and I can't let anyone get in my way."

Takamichi's face became one of sadness. "Negi-kun," he started. "I don't want to have to use violence to settle this."

In response Negi smiled and said, "Then I will."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Asuna dashed through the streets and alleyways, Nodoka and Yue hot on her heels. Soon it became apparent that the library duo were not the only ones to have noticed the disturbance.

"Setsuna-san! Konoka!" called Asuna. "You guys felt it too, right?"

"It's kind of hard to miss!" Setsuna shouted back. "It has to be those Shadow Hunters again!"

"Well they aren't gonna get away this time!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"_When did Negi-kun get so strong?"_ thought Takamichi, face-down in the dirt. _"It's like he's combined his father's fighting style with Evangeline's brutality! Who taught him to fight like this?" _The teacher tried to rise but found the damage to his body too extensive. All he managed to do was roll over onto his back so he could see what Negi and his crony were doing. He wasn't surprised to find that the magic chamber the Dean had placed the instrument of torture in had been raised to the surface. He was surprised to see that Negi was now alone. _"I should have known. Negi's too smart to think that all this would go undetected. While he remains here to break the vault open his team is moving around the campus ambushing anyone coming to help. I've got to… ugh!"_ Takamichi's second attempt to stand only served to remind him of his two fractured kneecaps. He would have used magic or _Ki_ to repair them but he was down to his last reserves of both and might have to use _Kanka_ for a sneak attack. So the instructor could not but watch as his former colleague used his power to slowly force the vault open. At last the door came off its hinges and was propelled back into the water. The object inside was pure silver in color and in the shape of a long, curved, pointed tooth. Negi quickly removed the item and turned to leave, his task completed.

"Wait!" screamed a female voice from behind.

Negi flinched, recognizing the sound as Asuna's. _"And so we come to the moment of truth,"_ thought the Hunter. _"Asuna-san sounds well."_ From the number of footsteps he heard Negi determined Asuna must have brought four of the others with her.

"Whoever you are drop that artifact!" came Setsuna's familiar tone.

"_You've changed only a little, Setsuna-san,"_ the teenager said to himself. _"Your power has grown but you are still the same strong, caring girl I made a Pactio with."_ Making sure to keep his face hidden he shouted over his shoulder, "I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Oh yeah?" said Asuna, starting to charge forward. She was stopped in mid-stride by Yue.

"Hold up a minute," whispered Yue to the redhead. She then looked at the Shadow Hunter's back. "We were told you know something about a very close friend of ours," she spoke to the (to her) faceless man.

"_Direct as always, eh Yue-san?" _The mercenary replied, "That depends on who this close friend of yours is, nee-san."

"You know who she means!" snapped Asuna. "We want to know about Negi!"

"And his father!" added Konoka. "We promised him we would help him find the Thousand Master!"

"_You're just as kind now as you were before, Konoka-san,"_ thought Negi. _"Although I no longer need the help with father."_ After making certain that his face was still concealed Negi said in return, "So you want to know about Negi Springfield, huh?"

"Yes," spoke the firm yet gentle voice of Nodoka. "Please… if you know anything of Negi-sensei… please tell us. We all miss him so much."

"_You definitely know what to say to make somebody feel like trash, Nodoka-san,"_ the boy mused in his head. _"Let's see… Asuna-san, Setsuna-san, Yue-san, Konoka-san, and Nodoka-san. At this point their combined powers should be very formidable. I'll have to be sure that each of them is really down for the count before I move on."_ Steeling himself for what was to come Negi asked, "Why would you miss someone like that? From what I heard of the guy he did nothing other than make trouble for everyone around him. I would think you'd be glad to be rid of him."

"That's not true!" all five girls said at once. Then Asuna continued, more softly, "Maybe he was a handful a lot of the time. So sometimes he was a brat and couldn't take care of things on his own." Asuna gave a slight pause. "But he never gave up! No matter what happened he never stopped trying! I've met people twice his age without one half of his courage! No matter what you or anyone else might say, he was… is… a worthwhile guy!" From the vibes coming off the other girls you could tell that they agreed whole-heartedly with what was said.

The guilt. The guilt was the worst part of this battle that had not yet begun. Negi invoked the emotional training he had taken to beat down his soft side and speak the words, "You may change your minds about that. Especially once you see this."

He turned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What's going on out there?" asked the fearful Konoemon. By the time he knew what was happening it was far too late to do anything. Those Shadow Hunters had taken over the barrier and used it to trap the Dean in his own office. Not only that, but they had made it impossible to release Evangeline's power, so she was totally useless as well! Now all either of them could do was play GO and wait for the end of the hostilities. But the occasional flash of light and tremor in the building did nothing to assure anyone that the fight was going well for those of Mahora.

"There's no way for us to know," said Eva, clearly annoyed. "Now are you gonna make a move or aren't you?"

"It's very difficult to concentrate on GO when those in my charge are fighting for their lives against a dangerous enemy," said the Dean irritably. "For all I know even the students are being forced into violence!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

On her way back to her apartment from her nighttime classes Kū Fei had witnessed Sister Shakti and Haruna being attacked by Herald. The Chinese girl's intervention had saved Negi's sixth Ministra from having her head introduced to the pavement. Sister Shakti was not so fortunate. Haruna and Kū could only watch as the nun/mage was hit with sufficient force to crack the brick wall she was unlucky enough to have behind her. Now both martial artist and manga artist were in the fight of their lives against the Shadow Hunter.

"This is fun!" jeered Herald. "You're every bit as skilled as I'd hoped you'd be, Kū-sempai!"

"You very strong too!" returned the girl. "I never fight boy who use same style as me before! What you name?"

"The name's Herald Torgesen," he said. As soon as he finished speaking Herald found himself surrounded by what appeared to be a gang of muscular tough guys, each one carrying some kind of weapon. But Herald had been in this kind of situation at least fifty times and could tell that the so-called 'gang' was merely the product of the black-haired girl's artifact. _"Kū-sempai's back-up could be a problem,"_ he thought. _"I'll have to remedy that."_ Herald then unleashed a wave of lightning magic in all directions. While not powerful enough to destroy Haruna's creations directly, the attack did deliver a painful jolt to rumormonger herself, causing her to lose concentration and the will to keep the animated troop in existence. Kū Fei was also struck by the wave but brought her _Ki_ shield up in time to block the worst of it.

After the magic lightning passed Haruna wobbled but didn't fall down. "That's a pretty neat trick you got there," she told her foe. "But one thing bugs me. I don't remember Kū-he giving you her name. How do you know what it is?"

Herald's face became one of a prankster who was just about to reveal his grand joke. "I learned that piece of info from a very powerful mage," he said. The only other sound was the distant rumble of natural thunder. In all the commotion nobody had noticed that the stars and now-incomplete moon were now hidden by storm clouds brimming with rain. "His name is Negi Springfield."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

When one meets a friend whom you have not seen in years, joy is the typical reaction.

When one is unexpectedly reunited with an old comrade the response is a mixture of happiness and surprise.

But when someone is thrown into a situation where their long-lost friend is now the enemy, what other reply can they give but one of total shock, horror, grief, and (perhaps) an irrational hope that what they're seeing is only a dream? All three of these emotions were written on the faces of the girls as they realized who the mercenary in front of them really was.

"I know," said Negi as if he knew what they were thinking. "This isn't how I thought our group would meet again either. I'm sorry it had to be this way. But it looks like the only thing we can do about it is deal with it."

Negi's voice had changed from the last time any of them had heard him speak. It was now much deeper and more masculine, but that wasn't the biggest difference. It was how he talked. Unlike four years earlier, when he always spoke with an undercurrent of insecurity, he now addressed all of them with an air of authority. To Asuna it was maddening.

"WHAT THE HELL, NEGI-BOZU!" the redhead screamed at the top of her lungs. "WHAT IS THIS?" As if on cue, a huge clap of thunder punctuated her cry.

"What does it look like?" Negi asked calmly. "I'm retrieving the Fang of Pain."

"It also," began Setsuna, her voice wavering between sobbing and rage, "looks like you're helping those three Shadow Hunters who've been attacking the school recently." The half demon then stared at his eyes beseechingly. Negi could see tears faintly welling up. "Please tell us that isn't what's going on."

"Unfortunately it's even worse than just me helping them," said Negi, closing his eyes. "I'm a Shadow Hunter myself now and I'm also the leader of the others you've seen. It's a shame, but I must take responsibility for this assault as well."

The girls could not believe what they were hearing. Each one wanted to deny it. That the same boy who was their dear friend and partner was behind the school's most recent troubles.

"And if you don't believe me," continued the mercenary, "all you have to do is ask Takamichi, over there." He pointed to where the teacher had lain silently until now.

"You can take my word for it, girls," said Takamichi, shaking his head sadly. "Negi-kun is serious about this."

Asuna was grating her teeth as she looked back at Negi. A lone tear ran down her cheek as she whispered, "Negi… if this has anything to do with what happened…"

Negi cut her off. "The last time we saw each other? As I recall, Library Island had been raided by a band of thieves looking to steal the Book of Melchizedek. We managed to stop them from escaping, but because of a deal Chamo had made with one of them previously they were able to use a powerful teleportation spell on me. I tried to resist it and I cried out for your help. You, however, just stood there. The brave Asuna, who had sworn to protect me from any threat, had cracked under the stress of the battle. You were able to snap yourself out of it but by that time the spell had overwhelmed my defense. The next instant I was thousands of miles away and far beyond your help."

The teenager looked his former student right in the eye. "I admit I was very upset with you at first but I got over it fairly quickly. So no, right now has nothing to do with what happened that day. I'm just here as a hired hand for my current employers."

"I… if this… really isn't about that…" started Asuna shakily. "THEN HOW CAN YOU TURN ON US LIKE THIS?"

Asuna dashed toward the boy she had thought of as a little brother, clenching her fist, and fully intending to deck him one. What happened next was hardly more than a blur. Suddenly Asuna had an unobstructed view of the lake. Then she realized that Negi had caught her fist, and when she attempted to speak all that came out was a strangled 'Gah!' Negi had also taken the opportunity to ram his elbow into Asuna's stomach. Before the girl could do anything else the mercenary had slammed his foot into the side of her head and sent her flying into the lake where she came to a stop in the shallows. The thunder boomed through the skies again as the fresh water spilled down to earth.

"By the way," Negi called over the downpour. "Don't hope for any backup in this fight. I've arranged it so that everyone else has problems of their own."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kotaro, Chachamaru, Kaede, and Mana all jumped back, avoiding the wall of fire. Fighting off both Sati and Rebecca was not something easily accomplished. The two Huntresses frequently combined their magical attacks resulting in large one-way explosions that scattered their enemies.

"As if one wasn't bad enough," muttered Kotaro.

"You really shouldn't complain," sneered Rebecca. "After all, it's the challenging battles like this that most improve your abilities."

"And who are you to tell him how he should feel, de-gozaru?" asked Kaede, dodging one of Sati's puppet wires.

"Just offering some friendly advice," replied the girl before blocking a blow from Chachamaru.

"I am not aware of what it is you're up to," said the gynoid. "But I shall not remain silent while you carry it out."

It was Sati who gave the retort. "Ha! I think you've underestimated our leader. While we fight here he's taking the Fang from its hiding place."

"Now you're the one doing the underestimating," said Mana. "Takamichi T. Takahata is over there. I doubt anyone you've got is gonna get past him so easily."

Rebecca and Sati both smirked. "Our squad leader is the best there is," said Rebecca. "There isn't a fighter in this whole academy that Captain Negi can't beat!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Shinmeiryuu Ougi Zanganken!"

Negi sidestepped the _Ki_-infused sword slash. "You'll have to do better than that, Setsuna-san," he told her.

Setsuna's only reply was to call out another attack name. "Shinmeiryuu Ougi Zankūshō – San!" The _Ki_ projectiles sailed toward their target but Negi used _Ground Contractor_ at the very moment they would have hit.

"Set-chan, wait!" cried Konoka, rushing up. It was easy to see she was horrified by the sight of Negi and Setsuna trying to kill each other.

"Ojou-sama, stay back!"

Negi seized on the distraction. Grabbing the back of Setsuna's head he forced her body towards Konoka. Both girls expected a jarring impact. Instead what happened was Negi pushed their lips together in a kiss. Taken off guard by the unorthodox move neither one was able to avoid the Hunter's other arm as it bashed into their temples and sent them sprawling. The blows to the head, the shock of the moment, and the extreme sadness of Negi being an enemy resulted in a double K.O. for the two.

"_No! This can't be!"_ Nodoka yelled in her mind. _"This can't be Negi-sensei! Why is he acting like this? What happened to him?"_ The librarian girl brought her artifact up and said the name of the boy before her. She didn't even care that the pages were getting soaked in the rain. _"What's wrong, Negi-sensei?"_ As Yue tried to hit the mercenary with magic arrows Nodoka waited desperately for words and images to appear in the book. But when they did it wasn't what she had been expecting.

The picture that came up was one of a figure in a dark green cloak whose face was not visible. The words were stranger still. _"This is not your domain! Leave my apprentice's mind before I remove you!"_ It was sighed Anonymous.

Nodoka was dumbfounded. Who was this? Why did he refer to Negi as his apprentice? How was he able to stop her artifact from reading Negi's mind? Suddenly the image changed and the figure was now pointing his hand at her. _"You were warned."_ A second kind of writing came after this that read: _"Sorry, Nodoka-san."_ She barely had time to comprehend all this before a bolt of lightning erupted from the pages of her artifact and struck her straight in the forehead.

The shy girl screamed.

"Nodoka!" shouted Yue rushing to her best friend's side. The purple-haired college student's eyes were closed and she didn't answer Yue's pleas to get up.

"Don't worry, Yue-san," came Negi's voice. "There's no permanent damage. Nodoka-san is just unconscious."

Yue just stared at Negi. "How could you?" she whispered at length. "How could you hurt Nodoka?"

Negi frowned as he replied, "I didn't. She tried to look into my mind and paid the price for it. If I could have stopped that from happening I would have."

"What do you mean?" Yue cried.

"What I mean is," started Negi. "I'm not here to hurt you girls. I don't want to hurt you girls. Quite the opposite, really. But right now I have a job to do and I can't let anything stop me."

"And is that job more important to you than us?" asked Yue.

Negi's gaze hardened. "Possibly," was his only answer. "But if you must know how I got this way…" he took a small glass sphere out and tossed it to Yue, "you can use your magic to get an explanation from that little trinket."

Asuna suddenly returned to battle, swinging her enormous blade at the mage. Negi ducked the strike and stepped backward.

"That's not the best way to go about fighting me, Asuna-san," said Negi, dodging the following attack. "You got that weapon from our Pactio." He stopped speaking to remove a small card from his pocket. It was the card with Asuna's picture. "It's like this. I gave you that sword! And I can take it away!" Then, with simple phrase and flick of the wrist, Asuna's artifact was returned to its paper form.

"It won't stop me!" yelled the college girl. She dashed toward Negi.

Asuna sent her trademark flying kick at the Shadow Hunter, only to have him grab her by the ankle and try to slam her into the ground. The Ministra landed on her hands and kicked the teenager in the chest. Negi was forced back but kept his footing while Asuna resumed her charge. Somewhere during the next few minutes of fighting the mage threw a colored ball up into the air. When it exploded a bright red flash was released. This was the signal for the mercenaries to retreat. Of course nobody knew that save for the Hunters themselves.

So, while Rebecca, Sati, and Herald left their respective battles, Negi and Asuna's duel continued. With Yue and Takamichi as witnesses Negi knocked his first partner to the ground and pinned her there.

"I'm afraid I've got to leave now, Asuna-san," hissed the boy. "I am, again, sorry about this." Negi raised his hand and clenched it. A bolt of natural lightning marked the moment when he brought it down to the space between Asuna's different colored eyes. The girl's head was thrown into the mud and she lay still. On the outside the former teacher was completely calm after performing this deed but internally thought: _"That was the single most unpleasant thing I've had to do since I met Master Aleric."_

Then his team arrived.

"All right everyone!" called the squad leader. "It's time to get out of here!" A magic circle came to life around the group and their commander chanted the words that invoked its power. And a moment later the Shadow Hunters were gone as if they had never been.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

There's chapter seven everyone! Methinks I hath been watching the Matrix too much!


	8. Present and Past

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter VIII

Present and Past

Aleric Marcius, leader of the mercenary group called the Shadow Hunters, was having a very good day. His apprentice had returned with the designated object, and the head of the New England Magic Association had explained Project Infinity to his top subordinates, all of whom had supported the idea. Now he had almost every mage in the northeastern corner of the U.S.A. as an ally.

It was time to contact his partners for the next stage of the plan.

Aleric held three cards up to his forehead and concentrated. Moments later there were three more beings in the room. The three newcomers wore cloaks that were dark blue, white, and tan in color. Against the backdrop of glowing lines it had to be said that they looked very eerie.

The figure in white spoke first. "So it's finally our turn," came a distinctly female voice.

"Yes, it is," replied Aleric. "It's been a long time in coming but Project Infinity will at last go forward."

"All right," said a male voice from within the tan hood. "What is it you need us to do?"

"First," began the leader, looking at the silent dark blue form, "I want Alexander to join Gaul in overseeing the preparations in the Magic World itself."

"It will be done," was the crisp response.

Aleric nodded. "Kevin." The one in the tan cloak straightened. "You will perform the task of marking the locations and powers of all artifacts in the Old World. Remember to determine all possible relevance each item may have to our objectives."

"Got it," said Kevin.

"Very good," was the answer. "Now as for you, Harley," Aleric addressed the girl in white. "You'll be with me to see to the actual advancement of Project I."

"That sounds fun," said Harley in return. "But while all four of us are away, who will hand out missions to all the teams?"

Just then the lines that were built into one of the walls began to move. They curved and altered their directions until they came together to form a face.

"I will handle the day-to-day operations of the fortress during Master Aleric's absence," said the wall-entity.

"I had a feeling you'd volunteer," chuckled the Hunter Leader. "So now that everyone has their assignments, I think it's time that we get started."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Asuna lay on the couch, holding an ice pack to her forehead. When she chanced a look across the room she saw Yue bringing her a glass of hot tea.

"How's the head?" the blue-haired librarian asked softly.

"I got hit twelve hours ago," replied Asuna with a groan. She lifted the cold bag to reveal the bruise that rested between her eyes. "It still hurts like it did when I first woke up after…" She stopped. "Thanks for the tea."

Yue's gaze shifted to the floor. "You're welcome," she said, ignoring the sudden change of subject.

As Yue walked away to fix more tea for both Nodoka and herself, Asuna took a sip of what she had been given. The high temperature of the liquid was a stark contrast to the coolness of the ice but it seemed her head enjoyed the alteration as the pain dulled a bit.

"Ohh… why did Negi have to hit so hard?" the swordswoman muttered. She froze when she realized she had used the 'N' word. Asuna quickly lay back on the couch. If she let herself get upset it would only worsen her headache.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Eva was not happy.

First she got beat up by some snot-nosed brat who just happened to know the same doll master techniques she did! Next she was forced to sit in the Dean's office doing nothing while the sounds of the most entertaining battle she'd heard in years rose and fell around her. But now this! According to Kagurazaka it was her former pupil, Negi Springfield, who had lead the attack!

Apparently the Boya had become far more ruthless, as most of the girls who had tangled with him came out in bad shape. So much for 'I'm an English Gentleman'. Now it's 'I'm a mercenary and, even though I still care about you, you'd better get out of my way or I'll beat you senseless'.

It seemed that Negi had become more like Evangeline herself: serious, powerful, and willing to do anything to achieve his goals. Part of the reason she had started training the kid in the first place was so she could see a bit of herself in him.

Why was it then that she was dissatisfied with what Negi had become? He should be better off now that he could deal with anyone who got in his way. Shouldn't he? She should be pleased that he was following her and not his idiot father. Shouldn't she? It didn't make any sense!

"_Why do I feel less like the evil, immortal vampire I am and more like the frightened human child I used to be?"_ Eva raged in her head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zazie Rainyday was not normally the type to start a conversation. She was usually content to just stare at whomever she wanted to relate to until they said something first. But today was different. No matter how long she kept up her unblinking gaze her roommate just wouldn't say the dreaded beginning word. It could only mean that something was wrong.

At last Zazie gave up staring and said, "Hello."

Konoka brought her head up from the pillow on her bed. "Huh?" she asked.

"Hello," Zazie repeated.

"Uh, hi," replied Konoka uncertainly.

"You all right?"

The healer was at a loss for an answer. Physically she was better off than some of the others. Emotionally, however, she was just as beaten up as everybody else.

Finally she said, "Not really, Zazie-san."

Zazie raised her eyebrows ever so slightly. Konoka understood the unspoken question.

"It's hard to explain," said the mage. Zazie maintained her current expression until her friend came clean.

"I'm a little depressed because… well, how would you feel if you found out someone you hadn't seen in years and loved like a younger sibling had gone down the wrong path?" asked Konoka, despondent.

Zazie's face did not betray the fact that the question had thrown her for a moment. After a few seconds she answered it with one of her own: "Sad?"

Konoka nodded glumly. "Very sad. Helpless too. You keep thinking you should have been there for him. You feel as though… it's your fault he ended up that way." The Ministra's eyes began to tear up and she put her head back into the pillow before she could start crying in full again.

Now that they were roommates Zazie knew what a rare thing it was to see Konoka Konoe depressed. Most days you couldn't get her to not smile, let alone frown. But what she had described sounded like a family tragedy. Someone who was like a little brother or sister choosing the wrong path? Who was like a younger sibling to Konoka?

Suddenly it clicked.

"_Negi-sensei!"_ the acrobat realized. Keeping this revelation to herself Zazie then asked, "The wrong path?"

Konoka raised her head again to answer. "This person became a mercenary called a Shadow Hunter."

"_Negi-sensei, a Shadow Hunter?"_ Zazie asked mentally. _"No one tells me anything anymore."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Asuna slept on the couch and Nodoka in her bed Yue stared into the small orb of crystal and pondered what to do.

"_Negi-sensei said if I wanted to know why he became a mercenary I should use my magic on this ball. But what if this is a trap of some kind?"_

That very train of thought tore at the blue-haired girl's heart. There was a time when Negi's word would have been enough to convince her of almost any action. The fact that she could no longer take her first love at face value caused a pain in her chest that was hard to ignore.

"Yue-Yue, are you all right?"

Yue spun at the sound of Nodoka's voice. Her best friend was sitting up in bed and looking right at her with concern clearly etched on her features.

"Nodoka! I was, uh…" her eyes moved back to the glass ball for a moment.

"What's that?" asked Nodoka, pointing to the object.

At first Yue wondered if she should keep the artifact's origin a secret from her friend. It had come from Negi after all, and it was at least partly his fault that Nodoka was in that bed right now. Then the feeling passed and she understood that lying would only make things worse.

"Negi-sensei left this here last night," she said. "He said we should use our magic on it if we wanted to find out why he's a Shadow Hunter."

Nodoka's face went through several emotions in rapid succession: surprise, longing, curiosity, and finally determination. "Let's try it together," said the girl.

Yue nodded her head yes. If the chance of triggering a trap was going to be taken they might as well do it as a team.

Yue brought the small item over to the bedside. She held it in between Nodoka and herself as both Ministra started to channel their magic into the thing. The orb glowed white in reply. The air grew heavy with anticipation as the moment dragged on.

A sudden flash shocked the girls into dropping the ball to the floor.

"What's that?" hissed Yue. The orb had begun to project a concentrated beam of light toward the ceiling and something was stirring inside of it. Slowly the laser faded and Nodoka and Yue got a good view of what had come out of the glass. Both their jaws dropped to the floor.

It was Negi.

Not Negi as they had seen him just a half a day ago, but Negi as he had been when he last taught Middle-School class 3-A. The only evidence that this was not the genuine article was that this Negi could be seen through. Other than that everything was the same, right up to the uncertain demeanor Negi had had when he was that age. It was most disorienting for the girls. But apparently the Negi clone wasn't having too good a time of it himself.

"Nodoka-san, Yue-san!" cried the transparent being in an echoing tone. "What happened? Where am I?"

The librarians waited in stunned silence until Nodoka realized that too much noise was going to wake Asuna, who was slumbering not three feet away. Knowing that it would be near impossible to explain to the redhead how the Negi of four years ago had suddenly shown up in their apartment Nodoka frantically tried to soothe the clone.

"N-Negi-sensei!" she said as quietly as she could. "Please, you must calm down!"

"A-all right, Nodoka-san," replied Negi. He took a deep breath that resonated off the walls. "The l-last thing I remember, we were fighting those thieves that broke into the library. They hit me with a teleportation spell and then I… ohhh!"

The see-through Negi gripped his head and stumbled forward toward the two girls. By sheer instinct they reached out to help. The moment their hands made contact with his translucent surface, the clone dissolved into a thousand tiny dots of light that then flew back to the glass sphere on the floor. Nodoka and Yue collapsed, unconscious, where they had been when they had touched him, the only sign that they were still alive the shallow rise and fall of their chests and the swirling colors in the orb.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At last, chapter eight! Sorry for the delay with this one. I had a hard time deciding where to go with the story.


	9. New Master

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter IX

New Master

Asuna stirred on the couch. She experimented with her movements a little. Her head was no longer pounding as if a Latin-American entertainer were using it as a drum. That was a relief.

With a sigh Asuna pushed herself up and made to walk to the bathroom. On the way over she noticed Yue sleeping on the floor.

"_Huh, that's weird,"_ thought the college student. _"Yue never sleeps outside her own bed."_ Then she saw another anomaly. _"And Nodoka always pulls her blankets all the way up to her shoulders."_ The purple-haired bookworm looked as though she had jumped to her knees while still in bed, throwing the quilts off in the process, and then gone back to dreamland without any of her coverings, save her nightgown. Still, as neither one appeared to be injured in any way, Asuna had no reason to think something bad had happened. _"It must be because of last night,"_ she thought. _"Maybe Honya had a nightmare about it and Yue tried to help by staying next to her?"_

It had been one of the most traumatic nights on record for them, so it didn't seem too unbelievable. Deciding to leave everything as it was Asuna continued getting ready. There might be some kind of meeting about the attack and she didn't want to be left out of it. So focused was she on her task that she never realized that there was a small globe of crystal of the floor. Had she seen it, it would have answered many of her questions.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

_(40 minutes earlier…)_

"What is this?" cried Yue. She and her best friend were tumbling down into an abyss from which no escape could be seen.

In truth, Nodoka was actually the only thing Yue was able to really 'see.' The environment around was covered in an inky blackness so complete that her light-requiring eyes could register no movement from it. The knowledge that she was falling came from seeing Nodoka flipping and spinning as if there was no ground and from the sensation of air rushing past her face.

"This has to be some kind of illusion!" called Nodoka over the wind. It was a very convincing trick, but Evangeline had long ago taught them to recognize fake surroundings.

Suddenly there was a brilliant gleam of light and the whole setting changed. Now they were floating above a landscape of snow.

"Now what?" asked Yue, annoyed.

"I remember… this place…"

Nodoka and Yue were startled by the commentary. The voice was that of Negi Springfield before he had been sent away from Mahora Academy.

"N-Negi-sensei?" asked Nodoka. "Where are you? What is this place?"

The disembodied ten-year-old Negi grunted. "I think this is… a memory of mine," he replied at last. "Yes… this is where I landed after I was hit with that spell at Library Island."

Just as the girls were absorbing this info another disturbance occurred. A large blast of wind from below scattered frozen water everywhere and the two Ministra were only half-surprised to see that it had been the ten-year-old Negi who had cast the spell. This time, however, he made no indication that he knew they were there. In fact it looked like he was less aware of where he was than they were.

"Somehow," started Yue, "I think this is going to be a long day."

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Setsuna-san!" called Asuna.

The half-demon stopped her practice drill long enough to acknowledge that she had heard her friend and then was right back at cutting her target dummies to bits.

"Nice to see you too," muttered the redhead, slightly put out. Then she shook it off and remembered why she had come down here in the first place. "So… how're you holding up?"

Setsuna's reply was a short and unconvincing "Fine."

"_Man, she's lousy at lying,"_ thought Asuna.

"_Blast my rotten lying!"_ cursed Setsuna. _"I could have taken lessons in deception from Kaede, but no! I always have to be first place in the little miss honorable contest!"_ Just then she remembered how her former teacher had beaten her. _"Definitely not the most dignified defeat I've ever had. But then again I know that no one will ever be able to reject Ojou-sama because of her kis… what the hell am I thinking!"_

This train of thought caused a blush to appear on Setsuna's face even as it contorted in anger. In a sudden burst of aggression she slashed through the nearest tree, sending it toppling to the ground. _"Next time we meet, Negi-'sensei',"_ the swordswoman hissed in her head. _"I will make sure you pay in full for my humiliation before Kono-chan."_

Asuna was only momentarily thrown by this show of hostility. Then her hand drifted up to the space between her eyes where the now-healing bruise rested. Her thoughts came back to her partner and she whispered: "Whatever those Shadow Hunter guys did to you, I'm gonna fix it. Just you wait, Negi. I'll save you!"

Setsuna turned. "What was that, Asuna-san?"

Asuna shook her head (ignoring the slight jolt this caused) and gave a half-hearted smile. "I said 'shall we have our usual spar today, Setsuna-san?' We have to keep our skills up after all."

Setsuna nodded curtly. "Very well."

Asuna brought up her sword, in an instant ready to meet her friend's as it flew towards her.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Evangeline wandered aimlessly around campus.

"_Where am I going?"_ she asked herself. _"There's no real reason for me to be out here. Normally I'd be beating the pants off the Dean at GO right now, so why am I going around in circles?"_

Eva sighed. She already knew the answer. She, the great Evangeline A.K. McDowell, was too emotionally broken up by her apprentice becoming evil to maintain her routine. _"What's wrong with me? I've seen things like this happen many times over centuries. This really shouldn't affect me so much!"_ That's when a voice in her head went off and said: _"But all those other times weren't connected with you directly. This little fall from grace is partly your fault and you know what happens to evildoers… what will happen to Negi... in the end."_

Her brooding was shattered when she noticed she was being followed. Was it bounty hunters, come to kill her and claim the money on her head? Or even worse, had Negi come back finish her off to make sure that she wouldn't interfere with him next time? She turned and, to her horror, found that it was even more terrible than she had suspected.

"Hello, Eva-chan!" said Sakurako Shiina. "Long time no see, huh!" Sakurako was flanked by Misa Kakizaki and Madoka Kugimiya.

Back in junior high each one of these girls had been a handful (save for Madoka), but together they were one of the rowdiest groups in the whole of class 3-A, and that's saying something.

Eva had not seen them since their graduation from middle school and their appearance at this place and time could only mean one thing.

"_The universe has a really shitty sense of humor,"_ decided Evangeline.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It was rapidly becoming clear to Nodoka and Yue what was going on. The orb Negi had given them was a chronicle of his life after Mahora.

So far it was not going well.

Negi had been sent all the way to the Magic World by the thief's teleportation spell! And as if that wasn't bad enough he had landed only ten miles away from the north pole of that world! The two girls had spent the better part of an hour watching as the ten-year-old Negi valiantly fought against the freezing death that seemed intent on claiming him. Sadly, not knowing the powerful spells that would protect him indefinitely, there was only so long he would be able to last.

It was very painful for them to watch. Not only was he just a boy who had been made to suffer for doing the right thing, he was also the object of both Nodoka _and_ Yue's affections. Somehow Negi Springfield had won over both of them despite being several years younger, and now all they could do for him was weep over his misfortunes.

"Why does everything happen to Negi-sensei?" asked Nodoka with a shaky tone.

Yue didn't answer but, by the tears in her eyes, it was clear that she agreed.

Just then Negi floundered and fell face-first into the snow. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees but was so overcome by fatigue, hunger, and loneliness that he could go no farther. "Why?" Negi whispered to himself. "Why didn't you save me, Asuna-san? Why didn't you move like you did at the school festival? You said you would always be there to help me. You even scolded me for not trusting you enough." Then Negi turned his head upwards and let out a cry that stunned his former students. "After all you said, how could you just stand there and let me get sent away?" he screamed. "You said you would protect me but that was a lie! You're a liar, Asuna-san!"

Negi then took long, deep breaths even as Nodoka and Yue felt their hearts breaking from his outburst. They had heard him cry out in anguish like this only once before and that had also been in one of his memories.

Suddenly Negi began clawing at his eyes.

"No, no," he said. "I can't let myself cry. If I cry in this weather my eyelids will freeze shut."

"Having problems, are we?"

From out of nowhere a hulking, shadowed behemoth had appeared and was now standing over Negi. The stranger's face couldn't be seen, but that wasn't necessary to feel the power rolling off him. One wouldn't have thought it possible to feel any colder, stuck in the middle of the tundra like that. But this stranger added a new chill to the air-the chill of fear.

The shock and intimidation of seeing this new arrival was more than Negi's already overtaxed psyche could handle. The abandoned teacher fell over backwards and lost consciousness as the memory-created vision blacked out all around. The darkness lingered a moment before a soft wavering light slowly began to bring things back into focus. Negi was lying, half-awake, on a heavily quilted bed in a modestly furnished room. Aside from the bed it had only a table, three chairs, and a few cabinets. The only door was in the wall opposite where the former child instructor lay. Distant, distorted voices could be heard through the wood as Negi returned to his senses.

"…_certain about who he is?"_

"_Positive, sir. He couldn't be anyone else. Every detail matches perfectly."_

A slight chuckle was heard. _"Then I think he and I should meet. Let's see if he's up."_

The door swung open and two figures stepped inside. One was clearly the being that Negi had seen previously, as he almost couldn't fit through the opening. His face was that of a tiger with white-colored fur and he was actually wider than he was tall. An impressive feat considering he was already six feet high.

Negi sat up at once and tried to gauge the threat he would pose. That's when his gaze was drawn to the second person. This one was neither as tall nor as wide as his companion but there was some unnamable quality to him that made him more inimical than a two-meter-tall beastman. He wore a cloak of dark green with a hood that hid his features from view.

Seeing this Nodoka grabbed Yue by the shoulder. "Yue-Yue! That's the person I saw when I tried to read Negi-sensei's mind during the attack!"

Yue didn't answer aloud but instead focused her eyes intently on the green-cloaked one.

"Running out into a blizzard," came the deep voice of Negi's future master. "If I didn't already know you weren't out there by your own choice I'd say you were crazy!"

"H-how… who…" sputtered Negi.

The tiger-man stepped forward. "The 'how' is easy. You were stumbling around without the proper clothing in a snowstorm that could pass for the ninth circle of hell. Warming enchantments are good in their place but no one, not even a mage, should be out in that without insulating fabrics."

The concealed man was seen to nod. "That's right. Now as for the 'who' of your question…" The mage slid his hood off, revealing his face. He appeared relatively young (around the age of twenty) and had spring-green colored eyes. Despite the cheery color, maybe even because of it, these eyes told everybody for miles than their owner was not to be messed with. "My name is Aleric Theodosien Marcius. And you are Negi Springfield, I believe."

"Y-yes, I'm Negi," replied the boy. "But how did you…"

"I know many things," interrupted Aleric. "But before I explain exactly how I know, perhaps you would like something warm to eat?" Aleric raised his index finger and pointed it at one of the cabinets. It immediately came open and the contents floated out: a bowl, a spoon, some bottled water, and a can of vegetable soup. Before Negi's eyes the can ripped in two, dropping the broth into the bowl. Afterwards water from the bottle poured over the lumpy mass and the whole thing was heated until it was steaming.

Negi blinked. He had never seen magic used so casually before. The spoon and bowl of soup floated over to the child mage as he tried to figure out who this 'Aleric' really was.

"In case you were wondering," said the green-eyed magic-user. "I am a Magister Magi."

Negi almost gagged on his carrots. By that display of power just now it was a fairly believable claim. But he had never seen a Magister Magi that was so… young.

Aleric chuckled. "You wear your heart on your sleeve, Negi Springfield. Yes, I am rather young and inexperienced to have achieved that high rank. But I'm not the only one to have done it before. Your father, for example."

"You know about my father?" asked Negi, on the edge of his seat.

"Oh yes," replied Aleric. "I may not have been part of his little group of heroes but I know plenty about him. I might even know where he is."

Aleric now officially had Negi's undivided attention. "You know where father is?"

"Well, it's really more of an educated guess," said the Magister. "But it's more than you have, I'm guessing."

Negi leaned forward anxiously, placing his bowl on the nearby table. "Please, tell me! If you know…!"

Aleric held up a hand to silence him. "You must understand that this is among the most secret information I have. I can't hand it out to just anyone. You'll have to earn it."

"How?" demanded Negi. "How can I earn it?"

Aleric gave a pitying smile. "You can start like this," said the high-mage before he grabbed Negi by the head and sent a large amount of magic into him.

Yue and Nodoka screamed, "Negi-sensei!"

Negi just screamed.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Both librarians shot up from where they had been lying. They were sweating and had a hard time catching their breath.

"Why… in the world would t-the vision cut off there?" rasped Nodoka.

"Maybe because Negi-sensei lost consciousness at that point?" suggested Yue.

Nether girl had the answer, but what they had seen so far brought up an important question. This Aleric person had done something to Negi upon first meeting him and he was also the mysterious figure who blocked Nodoka from reading Negi's thoughts. Was it possible that this man had brainwashed their former teacher?

XXXXXXXXXXX

At last! I have finished chapter nine!


	10. Power Struggle

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter X

Power Struggle

"How irritating," muttered Aleric.

During the course of this world tour that he and Harley were taking they had come across a pride of African lions while trekking across the savanna. The two Hunters had made every effort to slip away peacefully, but the majority of the pride's lionesses and the alpha male, fearing for the safety of the cubs, were intent on mauling the travelers and wouldn't let them leave. Don't cats ever get tired of being stupid?

"We have better things to do than entertain a bunch of dumb beasts who don't know their superiors when they see them," hissed the Magister Magi.

"You wanna massacre them?" asked his Ministra.

The lionesses charged at the pair, trying to force them into the jaws of the alpha male.

"Yes," was the terse reply.

The fight was over quickly but the effects lasted for weeks. When the alpha male attempted to decapitate Aleric, he responded by smoothly ducking the swipe and then landing a hard blow on the creature's nose with his palm. Instantly the alpha male stumbled backward, no longer looking half as fierce. Aleric's curse, delivered in that one fatal palm strike, would ensure that the lion would die a very long, very agonizing death. Over the next few weeks the alpha male would become so consumed by crippling arthritis that he would be unable to move at all. Eventually he would starve to death. _"A horrible way to go, I must admit,"_ thought the Hunter. _"But that's what you get for getting in my way for no reason."_

Harley dealt with the lionesses in a quicker, but perhaps no less painful, manner. Her solution was to rip each individual clawed toe from the front paws of every one of her attackers. This was followed up by a series of swift, magic-enhanced punches that shattered the lionesses' fangs. Ignoring the cries of the mortally wounded animals, Harley and Aleric moved on to their destination - a secret Shadow Hunter hideout in Ethiopia.

The cubs and those lionesses that remained with them shrank back as the Hunters passed. No one fought with these two and got off easy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ugh… bored," moaned Herald.

"We haven't had an interesting mission for days!" Sati whined.

It was true. If you were going by the internal clock of Negi Springfield's most hyperactive teammates, that is. In reality they had only gotten back to Ragnarök – the main headquarters of their organization – one day ago. But whenever Sati and Herald had to take a vacation at the base time seemed to slow down. For them at least. Negi and Rebecca, however, would always take full advantage of the respite.

"Can you believe those two?" asked Rebecca. "They never enjoy their downtime properly!"

Negi shrugged. "I wasn't always so good at relaxing either," said the team leader. "Maybe they'll learn how as well."

"Hah!" exclaimed a new voice. "The only thing your flunkies are good for is carnage!"

Negi and Rebecca turned, their faces ones of deadpan annoyance, to see their only real rivals: Shadow Hunter Team Epsilon.

"Hello, Tess," said Negi, looking straight at the only girl in the group. "What brings you here? Run out of little kids to spit on?"

"Very comical," sneered Tess before changing the subject. "I hear that someone gave a severe beating to a group of girls who used to be his students. What a lowdown piece of scum that guy must be! Now what was his name again?"

Negi narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

Rebecca snapped, "Oh, like you're one to talk, you self-righteous windbag!"

The tallest member of Team Epsilon stepped forward. "You shouldn't talk to Captain Tess like that," he said. "She's your superior."

Rebecca started to respond but Negi cut her off with a shake of the head. "Tell me, Tess, did you and your team come here just to insult us or is there some less petty explanation?"

Sati and Herald landed behind their leader as Tess started to talk. "Actually, I came here to congratulate you on keeping your mouth shut. Knowing what Project I was for so long and not being able to talk about it must have been quite the burden."

"Ah, so that's what this is about," said Negi with a knowing smirk. "Now that Master Aleric has put his big plan in action you think it's your chance to find out what it is." Negi took a moment to 'tsk' and wag his finger. "You know better than that. Even I don't know everything. And I was planning to tell you, along with all the other elite teams today, anyway."

"When?" demanded Tess.

"In about two hours," replied Negi. "In the meantime, however, I must ask that you and your squad leave. You are interrupting our well-earned vacation time."

"Certainly," said the lady Captain in a voice that left a lot to be desired in the sincerity department. Then Team Epsilon departed, leaving Team Delta to the company of itself.

"Is it just me, or do those guys seem to get more obnoxious every time we see them?" muttered Rebecca.

"It's just you," said Sati.

"I'm with 'Beck on this one," Herald put in.

"All right, all right," Negi interceded. "We only have a few hours before we're due at a briefing. So I advise all three of you to use that time for yourselves. You're gonna want to be alert for what I tell you."

Negi's group just nodded in answer. They would finally be told the outline of Project I. That's not a small thing.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Nodoka and Yue decided to keep what they had seen to themselves for as long as they could. If they carelessly told anyone else about what they had experienced (particularly Asuna) there was sure to be an uproar. So the two librarians kept silent throughout most of the meeting of Negi's old friends and allies.

"I still can't believe Aniki would do something like this," said Chamo with his furry head pointed down.

"Whether you believe it or not it did happen!" barked Setsuna. "The important thing now is getting what he stole back and showing him what fate befalls traitors like him!"

"Set-chan, stop it!" pleaded Konoka.

"Setsuna nee-chan's right!" declared Kotaro. "We can't let that two-faced rat get away with this!"

"Now hold on, Kotaro-kun," said a troubled Kaede. "You shouldn't jump to conclusions about other people like that, de-gozaru."

"Yeah!" yelped Asuna. "From what Negi was saying it sounded like he didn't really want to fight us!"

"Asuna, how can you say that after he hit you?" asked Setsuna.

"How can you say that Negi's a traitor after he went out of his way not to kill anyone?" Asuna shot back.

Setsuna recoiled. "W-w-what?" she stuttered.

"Asuna is correct," said Mana. "Going by the skills Negi and his group revealed during their attack I would have to say that they could have killed nearly everyone who fought against them. For some reason they chose only to incapacitate those who stood in their way."

"Is true," added Kū. "I tell from way opponent moves. They no try to kill us."

"Then why did they feel the need to pound some of the staff so thoroughly?" asked Haruna, remembering what had happened to Sister Shakti and Takamichi.

"I don't think it would have been possible for them to win without beating somebody up, de-gozaru," said Kaede.

"Even so," growled Kotaro. "Just attacking us is…"

"Part of his job," Mana cut him off. "Since Negi is a mercenary now he has to do whatever will pay well enough. I often do the same thing myself… unless of course you're insinuating that I am rotten to the core as well?"

"I didn't mean it that way," assured Kotaro, somewhat annoyed.

"I think what Kotaro-kun meant was that we cannot allow Negi to attack us, the ones who promised to help him, and get away with it," said Setsuna. Then she muttered, "The little backstabber."

"Set-chan, please!" said Konoka. "You shouldn't say such things about Negi-kun!"

"Why not?" questioned the half-demon. "It's true, isn't it?"

"Why are you so hung up on this, Setsuna nee-san?" asked Chamo. "I don't see anyone else flipping out. Not even Kotaro, who's on your side, is having a meltdown like you are. And you're usually the calm one! What's really bothering you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think it has something to do with what you said to Aniki during the school festival he was here for," retorted the ermine. "You remember? When you told him, and I quote, 'Negi-sensei is my savior and also a special person to me. If you ever need help, I will be there straight away'."

Setsuna stumbled back as if she had been slapped in the face. Caught up in her fury and pain she had pushed that particular memory as far away from her conscious mind as possible. Now, though, it was back at the forefront of the swordswoman's thoughts and was causing all kinds of problems. Not the least of which was the stinging in her eyes that threatened her composure altogether.

Seeing their friend's distress Asuna and Konoka moved to put their arms around Setsuna's now-shaking form.

"I think that's what they call hitting below the belt, Chamo-kun," Haruna whispered in the familiar's ear.

The magical ermine sighed. He hadn't meant to make Setsuna nee-san cry. But just as he opened his mouth to apologize the door opened and Evangeline, Chachamaru, and Takamichi walked in.

"So…" started Takamichi. "How's everyone doing?"

"Peachy dandy," said Kotaro sourly.

"No, you're not," said Eva flatly. "You guys are a mess just like the rest of us."

Haruna made a 'hmm' noise. _"Just like the rest of _us_, huh? So the Dark Evangel isn't as heartless and isolated as she'd like everyone to believe. That's an intriguing twist."_

For her part, Evangeline could not understand how she could have let herself get sidetracked by 3-A's former cheerleaders. She had actually started explaining when they had queried her about her lack of growth. After telling the trio it was a special medical condition they had insisted on taking her to a karaoke bar to have a 'Eva-chan never having to deal with wrinkles' party. It had lasted four hours!

"_Oh… just thinking about it makes me nostalgic for that time I had to have my appendix taken out by a seventeenth century surgeon,"_ thought the vampire.

"Has anyone been able to come up with any leads?" asked Takamichi after a moment.

"Unfortunately we're just spinning our wheels, Takahata-sensei," said Asuna.

"I have researched all of this school's files on the Shadow Hunters," said Chachamaru. "We have everything from the track record of their successes to the prices they charge for each type of mission they're willing to take on. But there is nothing in that collection that may lead us to the retrieval of the Fang." The gynoid paused for a second. "Or tell us why Negi-sensei joined up with them."

It was at this point that Nodoka looked over at Yue, who gave her the nod, and thereafter spoke up.

"Umm… Yue-Yue and I… have had a breakthrough with the information on Negi-sensei."

The replies to this out-of-the-blue statement were varied and immediate.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"You have?"

"Why didn't you two say something earlier?"

"Spill it!"

As Yue raised the glass orb up for all to see, and started to explain what she and her best friend had already seen, there was one thought that kept asserting itself in her mind.

"_I could really use a juice pouch."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The room was almost unnervingly quiet as the elite teams of the Shadow Hunters waited for Negi to begin his lecture. There was actually a story behind this silence. During Negi's last speech one member of Team Beta had made an insulting remark and Negi had had to straighten him out. The other man refused to listen and Negi had turned the offender over to his friend Fate Averruncus. Now the guy had a new career: as a tasteful ornament in a rock garden somewhere.

No one was going to risk setting Team Delta's leader off this time.

"All right, people," said the former teacher. "I won't keep you waiting any longer. It's time to tell you lot about Project I."

The members of Teams Alpha, Gamma, Epsilon, Beta, Zeta, Omega, and Delta leaned forward, all their attention on the Thousand Master's kin.

"As you know," started the boy, "our leader, Master Aleric, has spent many years acquiring info on both the magic organizations of this world and the workings of the Magic World. He has also built an impressive collection of magical artifacts for use in the missions we are given. But," Negi stopped to raise a finger, "what none of us knew was that all of this has a single purpose behind it. That is what Project I is."

Tess lifted her hand. "If this project is what the boss created the Shadow Hunters for, then why keep it a secret from us?"

"Because if the word had gotten out too early it would have easy to stop us," the captain of Team Gamma answered for Negi.

Negi nodded. "But now that Master Aleric has formed alliances with a number of influential magic associations it will be far more difficult for anyone to derail this plan of his. For you see, it is with their help and with our own innate skill as professional mercenaries that we will move our forces and equipment into the Magic World without being caught. But it doesn't end there! Once we get to that alternate world we, under the leadership of Master Aleric, will change it forever!"

"Change it how, Captain?" asked Rebecca.

Negi gave his fellows a knowing smirk before continuing. "We are going to bring about the total overthrow of every government that now exists in the Magic World. That is what Project Infinity is all about."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Harley landed at the bottom of the ravine and removed her hood. Her raven hair was kept in an unusual style. In the front it covered only the left side of her forehead; the right side was exposed with the bangs combed backwards. It was the same in the back, but different. The strands that reached all the way down to her shoulder on the right side were only at the level of her upper-neck on the left. Her eyes were a dull red, slightly slanted, and contrasted sharply with her pale skin. She was completely focused on her goal as she strode across the rock-filled landscape.

"It's around here somewhere," Harley said as she scanned the area. "Ah! There you are!"

The Huntress stooped and grabbed a pebble off the ground. Harley then enclosed it in her fist and exerted her magically enhanced strength. A brief crunching noise was heard and when the girl opened her hand again a small red crystal rested where the rock had been. In a flash Harley, second-in-command of the Shadow Hunters, had vaulted the height of the sheer stone walls that had surrounded her. _"Very soon,"_ she told herself. _"Very soon those fools who run the Magic World will be nothing but a bad memory! I can hardly wait!"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

And there's chapter ten everyone! Just for clarification Fate is not a Shadow Hunter. He's just an out of town ally.


	11. Growing Threat

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

To Murraymints999,

I'm glad you liked the chapter! I wasn't really trying to make Setsuna OCC, it just came out like that. Hopefully she's back to normal by this chapter. As for Project I, yes it's just a bit epic. And since you seem to like Fate so much I have decided to give him a bigger role in the story. You can expect him and his crew from the Manga to show up soon.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XI

Growing Threat

Asuna's head was spinning from what Nodoka and Yue had told her. Negi had been sent all the way to the Magic World by that spell? How the heck had it been that powerful? The college student took a second to clear her head. The story wasn't over yet!

"It was a large creature," the blue-haired girl was saying. "At least six feet tall. He brought Negi to a shelter of some kind and that's when things really started to go downhill."

"Just then?" asked Kotaro.

Yue nodded and said, "I know that sounds weird but once sensei was inside this place he was confronted by this mage who… um, well… how would you describe him, Nodoka?"

"He was scary without being directly threatening," was the uncertain reply. "He was wearing a cloak that was dark green and said his name was Aleric Marcius."

"This mage," asked Takamichi. "What precisely did he do that made the situation worse?"

"Well, nothing at first," said Yue with her eyes on the floor. "He made Negi a bowl of soup and said even a magic-user shouldn't be out in a blizzard like that. But then he told Negi that he knew about his father!"

Nobody had been expecting this, as evidenced by their surprised faces.

Eva gave a grunt of irritation. "Why is it that these Shadow Hunters know more than we do?"

"That's a very great question."

There was a collective jump at the new voice. With no warning Konoemon had joined the gathering.

"Wha… who let you in, old man?" demanded the undead magi. "This is my cottage after all! The least you could do is announce yourself beforehand!"

"Ah, pardon me, Eva-chan," said the Dean with a bow. "Now…" Konoemon paused to remove a yellowish scroll from his oversized sleeve, "you said that this man's name was Aleric?" The librarians affirmed this, and the aged man opened and began looking intently at the paper in his grasp. He glanced up for a moment and said, "Don't mind me. Continue with the story. I'm listening."

"Well," started a troubled Nodoka. "Negi-sensei asked this man for anything he could tell him about the Thousand Master but he told sensei he would have to earn it."

"Earn it how?" inquired Asuna. The redhead did not at all like where this was going. The Negi she had known a few years ago had been all but obsessed with his father (in her opinion) and was willing to drive himself way beyond what was reasonable to find out about him (again her viewpoint).

"W-we don't really know," said Nodoka. "But Yue-Yue and I think it's possible that Negi-sensei was brainwashed by this man."

"Brainwashed?" screamed Asuna. _"I knew it! I knew that something was off! The only way anyone could turn Negi against us is if he wasn't in his right mind!"_

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Captain Negi, you are out of your mind!" exclaimed one member of Team Omega.

"How is Captain Negi out of his mind?" asked another Hunter from Team Zeta. "He isn't the one who dreamt this plan up and anyway I think it sounds plausible!"

"Plausible my butt!" snapped Tess. "Even if we get to Magic World undetected, which I'm not saying we could do, how would we go about removing all the Magic World's higher-ups?"

"I thought you'd never ask," answered Negi. The chattering teams went silent again as Negi continued his speech. "The answer is a simple one. Two members of Master Aleric's original team are already in that world and are gathering support for our cause. By the time we arrive, there will be several thousand capable combatants ready to fight at our side. And on top of that we have a number of contacts within the governments themselves, so with fast and decisive action we'll have the entire place subdued within the span of two days."

The same unnerving quiet returned as all of the elite Shadow Hunters pondered the workings and goal of Project Infinity. Even though upon becoming Shadow Hunters they had all signed a magical contract to help bring Project I to fruition, they had not been told what it was. Now that they knew they were somewhat surprised, none of them being the world-conquering type, but still intrigued. Success meant they would be in on the ground floor of a new order in the Magic World. Failure, however, guaranteed eternal exile from that land as well as mistrust from the wizards of the Old World. It took them all of five seconds to decide that the penalty for losing was far too low to keep them from going through with their contracts. After all, Master Aleric could be _very_ creative with punishment and was considered an artist at magically induced death by some.

"Before you guys get too ahead of yourselves," said Negi, interrupting the thoughts of his comrades, "this is not a scheme for world domination, however much it may sound like it. Master Aleric doesn't intend to become the absolute ruler of that world but he will obtain a very important role in it."

"Excuse me," said a confused Tess. "But with all the nations toppled who's going to be in charge?"

"That's part of the fun," Negi grinned when he said this. "We're going to overthrow all of the governments and then we're gonna reinstate them!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

After Negi's briefing Rebecca and Sati had gone to the women's bathing area so they could discuss what they had been told without intrusion. But this was not to be, as they were followed by most of the female members of all the other teams. Now what they had going was a Huntress' group debate about Project I.

"It's sort of exciting, isn't it?" asked one girl from Team Gamma. "We're going to be part of the biggest thing to hit the Magic World since the war twenty-four years ago."

"I still think it sounds iffy," said the Huntress from Omega who told Negi he was crazy. "Nothing like this has ever been done before. Many have tried but all have failed."

"That doesn't mean it's impossible," offered Sati.

"And we won't be doing it in the same manner as our predecessors either," added Rebecca.

"It does seem as though Master Aleric has put a lot of thought into this," admitted Team Beta's Captain. "I think he knows what he's doing."

Tess gave a snort loud enough to be heard from the other side of the bath.

"What's that about?" asked the lady from Team Alpha.

"Master Aleric doesn't always know what's best," Tess said shortly.

"You better be careful, Tess," warned Beta's leader. "You're treading on thin ice."

It was true. The last person to question Aleric's authority had nearly suffocated on dry land. It was very hard for someone whose lungs had been replaced with gills to process oxygen from the air, after all.

"I'm not questioning Master Aleric himself," said Tess quickly. "It's his trust in that apprentice of his that I don't like."

Now it was Rebecca and Sati's turn to snort. For some reason Tess sniped at Negi every chance she got. This time, though, she wouldn't get away with it. Negi's teammates exchanged a nod and dove under the water.

"Why do you hate that poor boy?" asked the Gamma Huntress. "You're always trying to make his life miserable."

Before Tess could tell her fellow mercenary to mind her own business she noticed something. Something that was quite embarrassing. While she had been distracted Rebecca had swiped her robe and (clad in only a towel) was juggling it about in a ball.

"Why you… give that back!" Tess yelled.

In response Rebecca hurled the bunched up robe to Sati who, in turn, began a game of 'Monkey in the Middle' with the other girls.

"You are all going down!" screamed the enraged Tess.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Sounds like another game of 'Mess with Tess'," said Negi, not looking up from his book. The noise of the cat fight could be heard all the way from Team Delta's living quarters.

Herald chuckled. "She must have said something rotten about you again. I hope Sati and Rebecca have a lot of fun with her."

"Well, no one will ever top the time you stole all her bras and taped them to the side of the Taj Mahal with a 'For Sale' sign next to them," said Negi. "Poor Tess had to buy all of them back at twice their original price."

The underwear thief tried desperately not to crack up at the memory. "S-she… hehe… nearly broke my neck a-afterwards b-but… haha… i-it was worth it!"

"You're a nuttier person that you are a mercenary," commented the former teacher. "I hope you realize that."

"Thank you, I try!"

Negi rolled his eyes. _"Sometimes…"_ he thought, _"Herald reminds me of some of my old class's rowdier members. Speaking of whom…"_ Negi glanced up at the glowing-line-filled ceiling. _"I wonder how they're enjoying my past? I hope they like it more than I did at the time."_

XXXXXXXXXXX

"What the hell is this?" Asuna called over the wind.

After hearing how Nodoka and Yue's vision of the past had ended, Evangeline had demanded to see the glass sphere up close. The instant her fingers touched its smooth surface the ball had unleashed the same blinding light it had the first time. Now everyone who had been inside Eva's cabin was falling down the black tunnel that led to the world of Negi's memories. All this was explained by Yue as the group continued their descent.

"What's the point of this?" asked Konoka. "We already know the info this ball has! Why did it turn on like that?"

"No telling, Ojou-Sama," said Setsuna as she maneuvered closer to her charge. "Maybe there are more of Negi sensei's recollections here than we thought."

Mana yelled out, "I see something ahead!"

Light burst forth from the bottom of the tunnel and ate away at the darkness until an entirely different landscape was unveiled. The region was mountainous and almost alive with evergreens. A lake rested in the center of all this and was mirror-like from the air. Sunlight streaked down from above as a flock of birds took to the skies in a rush of flapping wings and falling feathers. It was a little sad for the new arrivals; to think that they were only experiencing this natural wonder secondhand.

Except, of course, for its three oldest members.

"This is definitely the Magic World," said Konoemon.

"No, really?" asked Eva, her tone heavy with sarcasm. "Do you think?"

"I haven't seen this in years," said Takamichi with a smile. "I wasn't able to fully appreciate it before so…" The _iaiken_-user trailed off as his noticed Asuna's reaction. Her mismatched eyes were wide and her breathing had become heavier. _"Seeing this must have triggered something inside her own memories,"_ he realized. _"I might want to distract her so she doesn't focus too much on how familiar this place is."_ But just as he opened his mouth to do this another, colder, voice became audible.

"I see you've come back to the land of the living."

"Ah, over there!" cried Nodoka, pointing to one of the cliffs that surrounded the water. On the top of that structure of rock lay Negi Springfield. He was pushing himself up on his hands and (judging by his wobbling) felt very dizzy. Off to the boy's right stood Aleric, his arms folded and his dark green hood over his head.

"You'll forgive my seeming rudeness by keeping my hood up," said the Magister. "But I'm waiting for a friend of mine and he should be here shortly."

"Is that…" started Asuna.

"Yes," Yue cut in. "That's the man who we think brainwashed Negi-sensei."

The ten-year-old finally made it to his feet and lifted his gaze to look at his senior in magic. "What was that you did to me?" the young magi asked.

Aleric grinned. "That was a special mind protection curse I use on anyone I tell my secrets to. As long as the curse remains strong nobody will be able to read your mind against your will." He paused. "Well… I suppose if they really tried for hours on end they might get through but they'd risk their own mind in the process. But, in any event, unless you choose to divulge what you know willingly it cannot be taken from you without a fight."

While the past Negi came to terms with this new mental security Setsuna couldn't help but be disappointed. _"So much for that loophole,"_ she thought sourly. _"It would have been easier for me to forgive him if he wasn't acting of his own accord."_ The half-demon inhaled a deep breath and let it out. Now thather anger had exhausted itself she knew what had been more traumatic; while the method her former teacher had used to defeat her had been embarrassing (and in front of Konoka!) it didn't compare to having to go into serious combat against someone who was near and dear to her heart. It was like a sunburn versus a stab wound. The burn was painful but it didn't cause any irreversible damage. The stab wound, however, was dangerous to your health as well as painful. _"It is probably best if I let go of what happened that night. Negi-sensei _did_ try not to hurt us. And he _did_ say that it was part of his job. That doesn't mean I'm not gonna give him a good thrashing but I guess I can…"_

"You said you were waiting for someone?" asked the memory Negi. "Who…"

"Well, that was a delayed reaction," joked Aleric. "But if you must know he's…" The high-mage stopped for a moment. "Behind you," he finished.

Just then a humongous, black _thing_ plunged from the sky and landed with a 'Ca-crash' that shook the ground, the trees, the lake, and most of all Negi.

"What's that?" cried Kotaro.

From their vantage point above the lake the collection of Negi's old friends and partners saw something rise up out of the churned-up dust.

Kū Fei was the first to identify the imposing figure, having spent many a sleepless night fantasizing about battling one. "Ah! A dragon! Is a dragon!"

"So it is," said Eva with complete calm.

The beast was covered from head to toe in jet black scales, had teeth that could pass for swords, and must have had a wing-span of forty feet. In short, this was one scary lizard! Everyone watching the scene as a memory expected the creature to lunge at Negi and try to eat him. So, naturally, the dragon bent over and spoke.

"Well, what do we have here?" it said. "What's your name, little morsel?"

Negi's mouth moved but no words came out. A talking dragon. Nowadays a dragon that was intelligent enough to speak was as rare as getting a royal flush on the first hand without cheating. Happily Aleric answered for him.

"This boy is called Negi Springfield," said the man with a smile. "That name mean anything to you?"

"Not the first one," replied the dragon. "But Springfield… that was the name of that guy who calls himself the Thousand Master. This kid a relative?"

That's when Negi found his voice. "I-I'm h-his son. D-do you k-know…"

"Not personally," said the fire-drake. "But I know of him. My name is Gaul, by the way. Gaul the Grand Dragon of the North."

"Gaul and I have been allies ever since we found we have the same opinion of the people who run the Magic World," stated Aleric.

"Hate 'em!" chimed the dragon.

"Exactly," confirmed the wizard. "But all that aside, I think it's time I tell you the reason why I brought you here. Quite frankly, Springfield, I need to test you."

"T-test me?" asked Negi. "Test me for what?"

"Have you forgotten already?" replied Aleric. "I told you, you will have to earn the information I have on your father."

Negi was flabbergasted. He had totally forgotten that this man knew where his missing father, Nagi Springfield, was! All of a sudden Negi was standing, all traces of uncertainty and weakness gone from his face and posture.

"All it takes is a little mention of his father and he's ready to go," muttered Asuna in her annoyed tone of voice.

"That's just how Negi-bozu is, de-gozaru," said Kaede. Then in a softer voice she added, "Or was."

Down below Aleric gave a soft laugh and began talking again.

"Wanting to get started as soon as possible I see," said the Magister. "Very well. I will give you your test now." Negi held his breath. What would he have to do? "All you have to do is survive for three minutes while I use you for target practice," said Aleric with a grin.

Negi was surprised but even more terrified. His former teacher of magic, Evangeline, had used to say the same thing before unleashing her best at him! Eva was a powerhouse once in her full capacities and if what Aleric had said earlier was true, that he was fully-fledged Magister Magi, he would be at least that strong!

"_Why do I feel as though I'm in for the longest three minutes of my life?"_

XXXXXXXXXXX

And chapter eleven has come! Sorry this took so long, but life gets in the way sometimes.


	12. Shaping the Future

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

To Sirilac,

Since you have reviewed twice and both times voted for Negi/Rebecca I shall now write it into the story. Rebecca is now a contender for Negi's heart! Just keep reading!

To Murraymints999,

Thank you! It took me awhile to dream up these OC's and I'd hate to think I've wasted my time. Though Aleric is still a bit hard to work with. He's so strong he's almost a Mary-Sue as you'll see below. I'm going to have to have him fight someone from the Crimson Wing to let people know he's not untouchable.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XII

Shaping the Future

Thirty-two seconds. That's how long Aleric had been shooting at him. Why, then, did it feel like a month had gone by? Negi's despair was interrupted by yet more chanting from the mage who was levitating above the lake.

"Ninety-Seven Spirits of Light, Gather and shoot arrows upon my foe!"

Negi braced himself but immediately saw something was off. The magic projectiles were all forming on Aleric's left side. Or were they? Negi let out a horrified gasp when he realized that the light arrows were only half the attack. Roughly the same number of black dots were materializing on his foe's right side as were white dots on his left.

"_He's incanting light arrows while simultaneously unincanting darkness arrows!"_ thought the besieged ten-year-old. _"Well, I guess he didn't become a Magister Magi for nothing?"_

"Magic Arrows, Array of light!"

The combined onslaught of symbolic powers forced Negi back. By the time the black and white rain was over Aleric had disappeared. Negi was so busy frantically scanning the area for his opponent that he barely had enough warning to successfully dodge the stone spear that came up out of the ground at him. It smashed through his barrier and nicked the side of his head, causing some blood to run out. But that was the least of his troubles as he once more heard chanting.

"**Heed the Contract and Serve Me, O King of Stone!"**

Negi, holding his head, turned to see Aleric with both hands pressed into the dirt. The nearby birds fled from their nests, screeching in terror.

"**Come, Unending Chaos, Churning Earth! Let this Planet Betray Those Who Live Upon it, Returning All to Dust! Ultimate Destruction!"**

Negi felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as the world began to tremble. The horrible sound of rocks splitting reached his ears just before the fissure started to open. Negi leapt away from the falling chunks of ground only to find himself sent upward by sections of the same going in the opposite direction. The lake became as violent as the ocean in a hurricane while the mountains started to lose chunks off their sides. Trees were uprooted by the fissure's expanding cracks and became wooden steamrollers in the catastrophe. Negi was both amazed and terrified by this display of power.

Those who watched the devastation as a memory were equally impressed and intimidated. Except Eva. She was merely impressed.

"That guy really knows his stuff," she said in the tone she used only when her interest was tweaked. "I might actually have a rival in this one."

"H-he's that good, h-huh?" stammered Chamo. It was a fairly understandable statement. The spell Aleric had just used caused a massive earthquake (easily a ten to eleven on the Mercalli scale) in a place where there is no fault line, yet contained the damage to a specific area. Such a feat defied the laws of plate tectonics! The only other spell he had seen with the strength to alter the laws of physics was Evangeline's own 'End of the World' spell. _"And if he _is _as powerful as Evangeline-san, getting Aniki back might have just become impossible."_

"Why would he use an attack like that on someone of Negi's level?" asked Kotaro. "It's overkill! It's like dropping a bookcase on a cockroach!"

"For two reasons," said Konoemon in his contemplative voice. "To show Negi-kun that he is as great a mage as any he has ever met and to eliminate any chance he might have had at retaliating."

"I don't think Negi-bozu had much hope of fighting back anyway," said Kaede.

"True," Takamichi responded. "With such a difference in power it's not so important that Aleric is using a 'Traditional Mage' fighting style in a one-on-one battle. Normally the 'Combat Mage' would have the upper hand in this sort of fight but…"

Eva huffed. "This is obviously the exception. I don't see why Boya's even bothering to continue! There's no way he could last the full three minutes!"

The diminutive vampire's shout echoed through the now-near-silent landscape. If the area had been uneven before it was positively jagged now. The fissure had broken the lakeside and the water was draining out of the lake and into the hole. A number of pieces of earth had been forced upwards while others had fallen into sinkholes. Several trees now had their roots sticking up in the air and the mountains had been completely reshaped. Of course Eva's outburst was totally lost on the memory-generated Negi. His only concern was how to keep moving effectively in a place filled with splintered rocks and broken trees.

"The terrain's almost entirely different," he muttered to himself. "Makes for better cover though. Maybe I should…"

"I summon the Spirits of Seven Giant Warriors with Tridents!" cried Aleric.

Negi turned his fearful gaze to the shifting water in time to see Aleric's summons emerge and tower over him. "I should have known," said the mage-in-training. "A true Magister Magi wouldn't be limited by something like elemental-affinities."

Then the first water giant took aim with its weapon and attacked.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Harley stood, looking out at a desolate, sun-baked wilderness. There was nothing but bleached sand and rock for as far as the eye could see. Well, almost nothing. If one observed carefully there were sections where the topsoil had been cleared away, leaving it paler than its surroundings. These 'cleaned' places were numerous but thin and they were scattered about everywhere. Harley stopped sightseeing for a moment and took a breath. The air was completely arid. But what else could you expect from Peru's Nazca plateau? This part of the Earth received only a half-inch of rain over the course of five years!

"Nobody will suspect that this is to be the launching point of our attack on the Magic World," Harley told herself with a grin. "And no one but us knows of the legacy left here by the ancient wizards of Nazca." Harley glanced at the small red crystal she had retrieved from the bottom of the ravine. She then looked out, once again, at the plain before her. Enormous lines. That's what all those cleared areas were. The famous Nazca Lines. "Mundanes think of them as just another oddity of the ancients," the raven-haired girl said aloud. "Even most mages don't grasp their true importance. But Aleric does, and very soon the leaders of the Magic World will as well."

Then there was the slightest change in the feel of the plateau. It was a chill in the air that wasn't so much in your skin as it was in your chest. Harley knew right then that the one she had been waiting for had arrived. She placed the crystal back within the hidden pocket in her cloak and turned to greet her ally.

"Hello again, Miss Harley," said Fate Averruncus. The white-haired boy had not at all changed over the years. He still had the appearance of a ten- to eleven-year-old and still wore a school uniform with a grayish-blue color and white shoes. "I trust I haven't kept you waiting too long."

"No," replied Harley shortly. "Though I am rather surprised that you came here alone."

"I wasn't planning on it originally," said Fate with a bored look on his face. "But most of the others wanted to stay behind and the two who did come with me had a… misunderstanding… with some of the locals and insisted on staying to fix it."

"I see," Harley said with a frown. "I do hope they don't cause too big of a ruckus. It might upset the head of the Lima Magic Association."

Fate's eyes perked up for a moment before lowering again. "Well, let's just ask them then."

Two figures, both girls, landed behind Fate.

"Sorry for the delay, Fate-han," said the Shinmeiryuu swordswoman called Tsukuyomi. The girl wore rounded glasses, had blond hair with small ribbons in it, and was wearing an outfit that looked more like a costume than anything. "Those guys were very disagreeable."

The other girl nodded the affirmative, her cat-like ears twitching as she did so.

"I hope you didn't damage them," said Fate.

"Not physically," said Tsukuyomi with a grin. "Just mentally. When they wake up they won't remember a thing."

"Very good," said Harley. "Now then, let's get down to why we're meeting in this wasteland." She paused to once more remove the red crystal from her pocket. "I trust you brought the activation stone?"

In response Fate held up a paper talisman. "It's sealed inside this."

"Excellent," said Harley. "I'll let you keep it until it's time for the restoration." Harley smiled. "Wouldn't want news of our secret weapon getting out too early, would we?"

"Very true," agreed the white-haired mage. "The main strength of secret weapons is that they stay secret until they're needed."

"Like your Pactio partners?" Harley asked, gesturing to the cat-eared girl.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," said Fate. "Now let me see if I've got the plan straight. Once we restore the weapons here" he motioned to the desert, "we take them to the Magic World via teleportation spell and use them to destroy the other magical weapons of both the Northern Coalition and the Southern Empire."

"Correct," said Harley. "And Aleric has asked that you and your allies be the ones to capture the leaders of the South."

"Oh goodie!" exclaimed Tsukuyomi. "That means I'll have lots of opponents to cut up!"

While Fate's partner skeptically raised her eyebrows at the swordswoman, Fate himself took on a contemplative face. "Aleric must have a great deal of confidence in us to trust us with the entire South."

"He does," said Harley. "Just make sure you don't disappoint him."

"Of course."

The raven-haired Huntress smirked. "Well, if there's nothing more to discuss, I think I'll be on my way."

Fate and his companions nodded but Harley stopped in mid-stride. "I wonder… it's been so long since… oh, what the hell!" In a flash Harley had whipped off her cloak, revealing her real clothes. They consisted of red pants that were oversized below the hips, Japanese-style socks with sandals that were more Western in design, and a white top that was open in the back. Then, just as suddenly, two feathered, jet-black wings sprang from the girl's exposed back. "And away we go!" she said, taking to the skies.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Negi was getting nowhere. Even after defeating the water giants it was obvious that Aleric was far, far beyond his current level of strength. It was almost too painful for Negi's old comrades to watch as the Master Mage continued to toy with him.

"I don't get it," said Mana. "It's almost been three minutes. Why is that guy letting Negi go on like this?"

"He probably likes to play with his food," whispered Asuna, her balled fists cracking. "And he knows that Negi-baka is too stubborn to quit!"

Down below Negi held himself up with his staff. He was almost done. Aleric could have finished him long ago. _"So why doesn't he?"_ the former teacher wracked his brain. That's when he heard an entirely new sound. Clapping.

"I must say I'm impressed!" called out the green-cloaked magi. "You've held up admirably against a superior adversary, so I'd say you've passed the test!"

"Wha…?" began the exhausted boy. All of a sudden Negi felt himself being hoisted into the air. He snapped his head around to see the black dragon Gaul picking him up by the back of his shirt with three of his blade-like teeth. Then the enormous creature flung Negi over his shoulder and onto his back. Poor Negi had to struggle to hang on to consciousness as he landed on the dragon's explosively hard scales.

"Make yourself at home!" laughed the great beast. "I'm going to take you for a ride and it will take awhile. In the meantime I don't think Aleric would mind keeping you entertained with a story or two."

"That seems a fitting reward for lasting so long," said Aleric, appearing on Gaul's armored back with a soft 'clack'. "Perhaps the story of how Nagi Springfield and his Crimson Wing became famous?"

At this the young Springfield seemed to catch his second wind, but his former allies didn't get to see what happened next as, at that instant, the memory-created world dissolved into a swirling mass of gray.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"These visions have the irritating habit of stopping at the most bizarre places," said Yue as she got to her feet.

"Yeah!" piped Asuna.

"Never mind about where it stopped!" snapped Eva. "Think on what you've already seen!"

"Evangeline is right," offered Mana. "Remember the power that Aleric guy showed? As much as I hate to admit it, I couldn't hope to overpower someone like that!"

The silence that followed lasted only a moment as Konoemon gave a loud 'A-ha!'

"Grandpa, what is it?" asked a startled Konoka.

"I knew I'd seen the name 'Aleric' somewhere before!" exclaimed the old man. He pointed to the yellowed paper he'd kept inside his sleeve. "This is a list of all those who have ever achieved the rank of Magister Magi," he said shortly. "Aleric's name is the newest addition to it!"

"So it's true then," said Chachamaru. "That man is the highest class of mage there is."

"From what I can gather," said Takamichi slowly, "he is around the same level as the Crimson Wing. He's definitely better than me."

"And there's something else," said Konoemon with a frown. "According to the blog on him here," he nodded to the paper again, "Aleric is also advertised as the leader of the Shadow Hunters." The Dean lifted his head to stare at those who were under him in the Kantō Association. "So not only is Aleric Negi-kun's master, but he's in charge of all the other Hunters as well. In essence this man has an army to call on if he needs it."

It was not a comforting thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where did Sati and Herald run off to?" asked Negi.

Rebecca shrugged. "They probably couldn't take the peace and quiet and left to break something," she said, not looking up from her book.

"Let's just pray that they don't run into Tess," sighed Negi. Then he added as an afterthought, "Or anyone else from Epsilon for that matter." When he didn't receive an answer he walked over to his teammate and tapped her on the head.

Rebecca looked up with a questioning gaze and said, "I'm sorry, did you say something, Captain?"

Negi frowned. Rebecca could be a bit of a slacker at times but she always paid attention to what was being said. Unless…

"What are you reading that has you so captivated?" he asked the girl.

Rebecca was momentarily thrown by the question and her reaction showed it. Her eyes went wide, a faint blush lit up her cheeks, and she made an 'uhhh' sound. This lapse in attention gave Negi the chance to bend over and scan the cover before she could hide it behind her hand.

"'One-hundred-and-One Tips to Becoming a Better Actress'," Negi read aloud. He then met Rebecca's eyes and said, "Why would you need to look at something like this? You're already a fantastic role player, mimic, and line memorizer. What more could you have to learn?"

Instead of speaking the answer, Rebecca merely opened the book to the page she had been on and pointed to the chapter title.

"'How to make a stage kiss convincing'," the Hunter Captain deadpanned. "I… see."

"Say, Captain," started Rebecca. "Well, the thing is… I haven't had any experience with this sort of thing before."

"But I have," Negi finished for her.

"You have Pactio contracts with seven different girls, Captain," said Rebecca. "You had to have kissed them on the lips or the Pactio would have failed. What was it like?"

Negi hesitated before answering. "Truth be told I've never actually kissed a girl before. Oh sure, I know what a kiss feels like, but it was always the girls who kissed me. There were a few cases that could be considered as sexual harassment, actually."

"_Like with Chisame,"_ the teen thought to himself. _"Covering my eyes and telling me to 'shut up and be quiet' while she pressed her lips against mine is _not_ the ideal situation."_

"Oh," said Rebecca, sounding disappointed. "But you could still tell me how I could make an acting kiss look real, right?"

"Erm… maybe," said Negi. "I suppose. There may come a time when you'll have to fake a romantic relationship on a mission so it might be best to make sure you have experience." Negi paused. "All right, stand up."

"_Why do I need to stand up?"_ the Huntress asked herself as she rose. _"He can tell me just as easily while I'm sitting down."_ With this being Rebecca's train of thought she was totally unprepared for Negi to lean over and kiss her on the cheek.

Following this, three major events occurred. First, Rebecca's face lit up as it never had before. Second, the girl came to a realization. Although Rebecca had always recognized Negi's abilities and strength of character she had never really seen him as a _boy_ before. As a person who was dateable. Being a mercenary she hadn't had time to consider such a distraction! Which brings us to major event number three; someone new was coming into the room.

"Well, well," said a male voice that seemed to come out of the ceiling. "I've got to give you two due credit. It's the most impressive snow job since the first conquest of Mount Everest."

Negi pulled back from Rebecca's face, which had morphed into the most remarkable shade of red by then, and turned to look at the newcomer. He was rewarded by the sight of a grinning figure that he knew had materialized out of the glowing lines in the walls. Beating down his own blush (it was much smaller than his teammate's but still there) Negi said, "You how Rebecca loves acting. She asked me to help her with stage kissing. That's all there is to it."

"Oh, yes," replied the transparent being, sounding surprised but not entirely convinced. "Wait, what am I doing? I have a mission for you guys!"

Rebecca quickly gathered herself and said, "I'll go and find Sati and Herald."

Negi nodded and the see-through man said, with a little urgency, "Be fast about it. This job can't wait."

"Yes, sir!" called the Huntress as she sped away. _"This mission couldn't have come at a better time! Herald and Sati are almost at each other's throats with boredom and I need something to keep my mind off Captain Negi's soft lips and… NO!"_ Rebecca clunked herself right in the forehead. _"Bad Rebecca! Stop thinking dirty thoughts!"_

XXXXXXXXXXX

There's chapter twelve! It sort of feels like the quality of my work is slipping. If you think that this is the case please tell me in a way that will let me know what has to be changed. And if you don't think so let me know so I can stop worrying! 


	13. StudentTeacher Relations Pt 1

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

To XxSlushiexX: Thank You! I just had to make sure that everyone still enjoys what I'm writing. If there's one thing I can't stand it's a story that starts out really good and then goes sour on you!

To AnimeManga4evah: Thanks for the compliment! But to answer your question: no, Negi doesn't have any romantic feelings for Rebecca…yet. But before I work on that I need to find a way to connect those two in a more personal manner than just working together.

To Murraymints999: And thank you once more for an informative review! You won't have to wait long for Aleric to fight with the Crimson Wing. Just keep your eyes peeled. And I enjoyed having Fate make an appearance too! Whenever he shows up in the manga I make sure to have the theme of Dark Samus from Metroid Prime 2 playing in the background. That tune just seems to suit him somehow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XIII

Student-Teacher Relations Part One

"So what's the job?" asked Herald in elation. "It's been forever since I've gotten to break out and burn off some of this pent-up hostility!"

"It's only been three days," said Negi, shaking his head. "You'd think you and Sati had both swallowed a five hundred horsepower engine, Herald."

"Ahem!" said the being that was currently in charge of the Shadow Hunter base. "If you're all finished, I'd like to get down to business." The spirit receded into illuminated lines before speaking again. "Earlier today I received a request for a team of Shadow Hunters to protect a valuable witness from a noted criminal ring."

"So we're going to be bodyguards," said Sati. "We haven't done that in a while."

"So what exactly did this witness see that has him marked for death?" asked Negi.

"It's a 'she', actually," said the spirit, the glowing lines moving to simulate lip movements and facial expressions. "And while I don't know all the details I do know that she acquired concrete evidence against at least four of their higher-ups. With that kind of info getting the lot of them sentenced to twenty years in the iron-bar hotel would be child's play."

"So," said Herald after a moment. "This lady have a name?"

In response the fluorescent head nodded over to Aleric's desk. On it was a folder with a sticker on it that read 'Client Confidential'. Negi strode over to the desk, opened the folder, looked inside, and nearly choked on his own tongue. "You have got to be kidding me," he muttered.

"Captain?" Rebecca asked slowly. "Is there something wrong?" From the tone of her voice and the confidence with which she had asked most would never know that an internal conflict had assaulted her mind. Rebecca suddenly found herself caught between years of habitually calling Negi 'captain' and a new desire to call him by just his first name. _"What the hell was I thinking? I can't just call him 'Negi'! That'd be a show of complete disrespect!"_

Negi, all unknowing of his teammate's problem, said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Negi then took a second to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I should have known that she would get herself into trouble like this one day."

"What is it?" asked Herald.

"This girl used to be in my old class," Negi groaned out. _"The universe must be playing some kind of joke on me. Why else would I keep running into the girls like this? Oh, well, at least I won't have to beat Asakura-san unconscious like I did with Asuna-san." _

Little did any of them know that Kazumi Asakura was on the verge of being beaten unconscious anyway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Talk!" the muscular, sunglasses-wearing thug yelled. "Tell us how much you know about our operation!"

It was a truly terrible sound, this man's booming voice. It was the kind that reverberated up your spinal cord, making your kidneys shake as it went. Still Kazumi was determined not to give in to threats and violence.

"I told you already," the eighteen-year-old Paparazzo hissed. "If I have anything to say about your little gang I'll say it to a judge." She would have punctuated this bold statement by spitting in the man's face, but, being tied to a chair, was unable to do so.

Sayo could only gawk at her friend's courage. If it had been her, strapped down with a huge scary-looking man shouting at her, she would have been reduced to a crying mess by now. Of course Sayo was a ghost and was currently invisible so there was no chance of that happening. _"I'm still such a coward!"_ the earth-bound spirit scolded herself. _"Asakura-san is the one who's in mortal danger and I'm the one getting scared! The only thing I really have to worry about is my doll being destroyed! And even then the worst that can happen is I get sent back to Mahora! No! I have to stay strong for Asakura-san's sake!" _

Kazumi's captor had a somewhat different view of her reply.

"You little bitch…" he growled. "I'll teach you to respect me and my crew!" At this the thug pulled a whip out from behind his back and snapped it over Kazumi's head.

The girl was frightened but did not scream. Sayo, on the other hand, did scream. The noise echoed through the small room and the gang member laughed.

"Not so high and mighty now!" he yelled with fiendish glee. "Now talk!"

"You know what?" said Kazumi, fire burning in her eyes. "You can just pucker your lips and plant a big wet one right on my…" the whip cracked next to Kazumi's arm, tearing her sleeve and drowning out the next word, "…cause I ain't telling you anything!"

"QUIET!" roared the man.

"What?" asked Kazumi, feigning shock. "I thought you wanted me to talk! Now you tell me to be quiet! Make up your mind!"

As Sayo looked on she saw the pupils of her friend's tormentor beginning to dilate with fury. _"Oh please,"_ the ghost prayed. _"Please let those Shadow Hunter people Asakura-san asked to help get here before anything _really_ bad happens!"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Aleric sighed. _"Well, here we go,"_ he thought with some despair. _"It's time once again to meet with my least favorite financial backer. It's not that she's stingy at all, oh no, but she's just so… squirrelly."_

Aleric sighed one more time before walking into the opera house. The large, circular building might have been impressive on the outside but that was nothing compared to the inside. Sporting a purple stage curtain, a golden proscenium, brick-red colored seats, and four levels of those seats, it was certainly everything you'd expect from a place of the dramatic arts. However Aleric paid no attention to these things as they were nothing new to him. He had seen many imposing structures in his life. There was very little that could get him excited. The mage maintained his atmosphere of purpose and disinterest as he ascended to a private balcony at the topmost level. As he moved to sit down he noted that his contact was alone. That was good. It would be easier to get down to business if there was no one else around to distract her.

Aleric took a deep breath and said, "Good evening, Yukihiro-san."

The woman in the other seat jumped and spun her head around, her blond hair whipping out behind her. Blinking her blue eyes rapidly Ayaka Yukihiro said, "Marcius-san! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Forgive me," said Aleric, trying to sound as sincere as possible. "I'm just sneaky by nature."

The girl waved off the apology. "Never mind that," she said, sounding very anxious. "How is Negi-sensei? It's been so long since I last saw him!"

"Negi-kun is fine," replied Aleric, keeping his impatience concealed. "He recently came back from an important mission and he's in good health and good spirits."

"That's great," sighed Ayaka. "So many terrible things can happen in your line of work! I don't know why I let you continue to put him in such danger!"

"Because it's Negi-kun's own choice to work with me and the best way you can keep him from getting hurt needlessly is by funding my organization?" Aleric supplied helpfully.

"Ah, yes of course," said Ayaka, somewhat put out by the logic. She quickly discarded her chagrin and forged ahead. "But all that aside, I've noticed that you have increased the number of missions your group is taking on in general. One would think you were gearing up for something of global importance."

Aleric smirked. While it was true that Ayaka was fixated on Negi and a bit of a loon, only an idiot would ever call her stupid. "Very perceptive," he complimented. "But you needn't concern yourself with it. It's Magic World business." Then he added as an afterthought, "And I will make sure that Negi-kun is fully prepared to deal with any situation that may arise, so you don't have to worry about that either."

"Very well," Ayaka conceded. "And you're right about one thing. I must continue to support Negi-sensei!" Just then the air around the blond became scented, bathed in golden light streaming down from above, and filled with little silver sparkles. "Fear not, Negi-sensei! For as long as you need me I, Ayaka Yukihiro, shall be there to guide you!"

"_Oh, brother,"_ thought Aleric. _"What a crock!"_

Then the atmosphere returned to normal and Ayaka spoke again. "Now then, how much does Negi-sensei need from the Yukihiro family fortune this time?"

"With our rising mission acceptance rate our profits have likewise grown," replied Aleric. "We will only be needing around ten thousand this time. Ah, that's dollars by the way."

"Okay then," said the former class-rep of 3-A. "I'll have the money in your organization's account by morning." Then the woman's attention was drawn to the stage below, where the performance had long since begun. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "This is the part where Natsumi-san's character comes in! I must watch!"

"There are others coming up to this balcony as well," said Aleric. "I'd best take my leave."

Ayaka shook her head as the mage next to her faded from view. _"I will never get used to those sudden, invisible exits,"_ she mused to herself.

"Oh dear, have we missed Natsumi-chan's big entrance?"

The question came from the newly arrived Chizuru Naba, who was followed by two more of Ayaka's old classmates: Yuna Akashi and Akira Okochi.

"Oh no, you haven't," answered the blond with a smile. "It's just getting there."

"That's good," said Yuna with her trademark grin. "Couldn't miss out on seeing… ohh!"

Down on the stage below there was an explosion of noise and smoke as Natsumi made her way into the spotlight as the main villainess. She gave her best evil laugh for the audience.

"I wouldn't have believed that someone as sweet as Natsumi-san could laugh like that," murmured Akira. "It's too bad Ako and Makie couldn't be here."

"Their loss," said Yuna in a voice she only used when she was seriously pumped up. Both Chizuru and Akira saw that she was about to give Natsumi a loud, early and unwelcome review and quickly moved to restrain her mouth. And while the others in the balcony were focused on one another and the actress performed on the stage, Ayaka's thoughts drifted once more to her former homeroom teacher.

"_Negi-sensei,"_ she thought. _"Wherever you are I hope you're happy and safe." _

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Come on you, work…!"

Asuna grunted in annoyance as she stared hard at Negi's crystal orb. How it had activated the first two times was still a mystery but Asuna (along with most of the others) believed it had more to show them and she was determined to get the visions started again. So the redhead had spent the past few hours rubbing, tapping, and even throwing the thing, trying to get it turned on.

Of course she had overlooked one small detail.

"Boy, you really are one of the biggest idiots I have ever met," growled Eva. "Did you even once stop to consider that it might be your _Magic Cancel_ power that's keeping the artifact dormant? Maybe you need to distance yourself from it for it to work!"

Asuna knew the outburst was mostly due to frustration from waiting around all afternoon but the words stung all the same. "Fine," said Asuna in a voice that was both hurt and exasperated. "If you're so smart you take a crack at it." She then nonchalantly flicked the object over her shoulder at the vampire and moved toward the door.

"Asuna-san," started Setsuna. "Where are you going?"

"Just to get some air," replied Asuna calmly, though her tone betrayed a slight waver that indicated emotional distress. However she bolted out of the cabin before anyone could question her.

"Asuna-san!" Setsuna called after her friend. The swordswoman turned to Konoka and said, "I'll be right back, Kono-chan. I'm just going to make sure Asuna-san is all right."

Konoka nodded and Setsuna ran after their mutual companion. But by the time the half-demon made it out the doorframe Asuna was nowhere to be seen. _"Now I know something is wrong,"_ thought the girl. _"Asuna-san doesn't just take off like that! She's got to be around here somewhere though."_ With that Setsuna began using _Instant Movement_ to make a quick search of the surrounding area. And after around three minutes of jumping from one spot to another at speeds too great to be seen by the normal human eye, she finally found Asuna.

"Asuna-san, why did you run away like that?" asked Setsuna. When Asuna didn't reply it gave her blade instructor the chance to notice something very odd; the nearby ground and trees were cratered with numerous holes. Setsuna's gaze shifted back to her friend, or more specifically to her friend's hands. They were red and raw, a sure sign that it had been the owner of those hands that had caused the damage to the environment. "Asuna-san, what's wrong?" demanded Setsuna.

"What makes you think anything's wrong?" was the neutral answer.

"I know you!" exclaimed Setsuna. "You wouldn't randomly attack your surroundings unless something was really eating you!" Asuna didn't say anything again and this time Setsuna grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her around. The first thing the swordswoman saw was a sparkle of tears.

Asuna was crying.

"A-Asuna-san…" Setsuna trailed off when her student gave her a weak smile and a question that threw her for a loop.

"Why?" she asked. "Why am I such a terrible partner?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Before he left to meet up with Harley again Aleric had one more meeting to attend. This one was somewhat more enjoyable as it didn't involve business nearly as much. And his secondary apprentice, while not the sharpest knife in the drawer, was a real joy to teach. It was really only happenstance that led to the discovery of her great magical talents, and he only got away to instruct her every other month but Aleric was not one to look a gift mage in the mouth. Thus he found himself navigating the streets of Seoul, South Korea, looking for a specific hotel.

"Ah, there it is," he said to himself after awhile. Invoking his favorite invisibility spell Aleric strode past the doors and through the hallways, looking for the girl who was almost like the little sister he never had. Then he heard her voice via a most unconventional medium.

"Oh, come on!" the noise echoed down the laundry chute. "You really think I should wear _that_?"

"Yes!" came the voice of her friend. "You look totally cute in it!"

"If you say so," Aleric's apprentice said, not sounding convinced.

The Magister Magi wasted no more time. He quickly unincanted a teleportation spell and, still invisible, appeared in the hotel room. His apprentice was holding a full-length dress out in front of herself, trying to determine if she would look as good as her friend assured her she would. _"Speaking of which,"_ thought Aleric, raising his hand, _"this girl will have to take a little trip to dreamland before I can get started."_

The sleep spell took effect both subtly and quickly. The girl with bluish-lavender hair never knew what hit her as she collapsed onto her bed, guided by her friend, the Magistra Magi-in-training. 

"Hello, Aleric-sensei!" said the apprentice mage cheerily, moving one of her reddish-orange hairs out of her face as she did so. "I was beginning to worry you wouldn't show!"

"Oh, come now," Aleric replied good-naturedly. "Have I ever failed to keep an appointment?"

"Well, no," the girl admitted. "But there's a first time for everything, right?"

Aleric chuckled as his student got out her special wand. "Okay then, Makie Sasaki-chan, show me what you've been working on the past month."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kazumi could not recall ever feeling worse in her entire life. The brute with which she was forced to share her breathing space had punched her twice in the head, used his whip on her legs multiple times, and had even hooked her up to an electro-shock machine that was made out of a car battery and jumper cables. She really didn't know how much longer she could take it. Her long, shapely legs were covered in lash marks (some of which bled), she had a black eye, and her left arm kept twitching of its own accord. Maybe it would be better to concede defeat and escape with her life. _"No… no way have I lasted this long only to give up! I'm not going let these losers beat me!"_

"I gotta say, girly," said her captor begrudgingly, "you're one hell of a tough nut to crack. But you must be near your breaking point by now. Come on, just tell me what you know and we can both get out of here. We'll even drop you off near the hospital."

"F-forget it, p-pineapple face!" said Kazumi with as much gusto as she could muster. "I'm not telling you anything!"

This response made the thug angry all over again. "Why you… I give you a second chance and…!"

"_Second_ chance?" hissed Kazumi. "I'm still waiting for the first chance!"

Rather than try to refute this piece of reality the man turned to his fists once again. Kazumi shut her eyes against the renewed physical assault but she was left hanging for the blow. She chanced a peek and, to her complete shock, someone else had grabbed her tormentor's arm as he had pulled it back to throw his punch. What's more, she actually recognized the person who was helping her now!

"N-Negi-kun…?" she whispered.

The thug was even more surprised than Kazumi. But that same surprise quickly turned to terror when he saw the look in Negi Springfield's eyes.

It was the look of pure hatred.

"Keep your filthy hands off her, you pig-eyed sack of shit!" the former teacher spat.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

And there's chapter thirteen, my first two part chapter! Sorry it took so long! And there's something I want to warn you all about! It won't be too long from now that one of my OCs as well as one of the characters from the manga will die in battle! So if you want me to call this off or you have a preference for who you think should croak you'll have to review! Once again sorry this chapter took so long! Later!


	14. StudentTeacher Relations Pt 2

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

Murraymints999: Ah, thank you! I had hoped Makie's appearance would be a surprise! And don't worry, you'll get to see her abilities very soon! And as far as people dying I've had a breakthrough; I've narrowed the selection of which manga character will bite it down to five. I'm still working on which OC will die but I know for sure it won't be Aleric or Rebecca.

Masterrolex: Thank you as well! While Negi/Setsuna is not a pairing I think is very possible, I don't dislike it either. They are somewhat compatible personality-wise. At any rate Negi and Setsuna will definitely have their second dramatic meeting during the… oops! Almost gave it away!

Sirilac: You're welcome for the Negi/Rebecca pairing. And, as you've already read above, Rebecca is officially off the endangered list. Now, regarding your request that I have Nodoka get rejected, tortured, and then killed; has someone eaten your enchilada recently? I'll still work on it, but perhaps Negi could let her down gently?

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XIV

Student-Teacher Relations Part Two

"Wha… w-who are y-you?" asked the horrified gang member. He tried to pull away but Negi's grip on his arm proved to be like tempered steel.

"Have you ever heard the term 'Ignorance is Bliss'?" asked Negi, giving his captive a frown. Not waiting for a reply the mercenary released his hold on the thug's arm, only to put the much larger man into a headlock. "Well, you should have taken the time to learn that phrase before you hurt Asakura-san! Maybe then you would have asked yourself 'What will Asakura-san's friends do to me if I hurt her?' Maybe then you would have decided not to take the risk of finding out!" Negi then began to drag the gagging man over to the door but stopped halfway there to turn his head towards his beleaguered former student. "Don't worry, Asakura-san," he said without a trace of anger in his voice. "I'll be right back. I just have to teach this loser not to pick on innocent girls."

In her current state (induced by multiple injuries and the shock of her old teacher popping up out of nowhere in her time of need) the normally talkative Kazumi could only manage a soft "O-okay."

It was only after Negi had taken Kazumi's tormentor out of the room that Sayo, the resident ghost girl, found her voice. "W-what j-just happened? A-Asakura-san?"

"I could swear Negi-sensei just saved my neck," said the injured Paparazzo. "Unless I'm hallucinating and you saw something different from what I saw. What did you see?"

"I saw Negi-sensei stop that brute from hitting you again," answered the spirit. "So you're not hallucinating. But what's he doing here? How did he know you needed help? And where has he been all this time?"

Kazumi knew that, if left unchecked, Sayo could very well ramble on for eternity. Not that there wasn't a lot to ramble about, mind you. Neither one of them had seen Negi in… what was it now… four years? And now he just appeared when she needed his help the most! How did that…?

Kazumi's train of thought and Sayo's nervous rant were both interrupted by a blood-chilling scream. They could tell, without question, that it was the man who had beaten Kazumi who was crying out but they couldn't tell whether he was doing it in anger, pain, or sheer terror. It sounded like some combination of the three.

Kazumi gave a hard swallow. "What… on earth… did Negi do to that guy?" she asked.

Before her ghost friend could say she didn't really want to know, Negi himself came strolling through the doorway. He promptly released Kazumi's bonds and helped her to her feet.

"Will you be all right?" Negi asked with undisguised concern.

"I… I think so," said Kazumi unsteadily. "B-but I-I… think I should lie down first." All of a sudden the lash wounds on Kazumi's legs reasserted their presence. The pain was both dull and searing. It was like having red-hot butter knives pressed against your skin. Then, just as her knees were about to seize up, the after-effects of her involuntary shock therapy focused themselves on her stomach and she promptly vomited all over the floor. "Ohh…" she groaned.

"You're really in bad shape," said Negi. "Maybe I'd better carry you out of here."

Kazumi nodded. Unfortunately doing so sent more blood than was necessary to her battered head and she passed out.

"Asakura-san!" Sayo cried.

Negi caught the eighteen-year-old photographer as she fell, scooped her up into his arms, and checked her temperature and heart rate.

"Don't worry, Aisaka-san," Negi said after letting out a sigh of relief. "While her wounds are worrisome Asakura-san's life is not in any danger. But we do need to take her someplace where she can start healing or there may be permanent damage."

Sayo, her eyes leaking spectral tears from the opposing emotions, yelled, "I'm so glad you're here, Negi-sensei! I-I was so w-worried that Asakura-san would…"

"Hush now," said the mercenary. "I'm happy to see you too, but this is no time to dwell on what could have happened. We must get out of here before any more of those drug-dealing punks show up."

The friendly ghost nodded before diving into the Sayo doll that was still attached to the unconscious Kazumi's belt. The now-possessed toy turned its head to look at Negi as he moved both of his old students out the doorway. _"When did Negi-sensei get so cool?"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Setsuna was as moved as she was confused by Asuna's question. _"A bad partner?"_

"What are you talking about, Asuna-san?"

Asuna let out a bitter laugh. "Oh, don't bother trying to deny it. Everyone here already knows that I'm a rotten Ministra! What kind of partner would freeze up on her mage right when he needed her most?"

"Asuna-san…" Setsuna started. "You were inexperienced at being in a life and death situation! It happened four years ago! There's no need for you to punish yourself like this!"

"Oh, isn't there?" asked Asuna, the tears creeping into her voice. "I'm st-still paying for that one mistake, even n-now!" Asuna slammed down her foot, imbedding it in the semi-soft dirt. Setsuna steeled herself for what was to come. She had no doubt that Asuna was about to let all her emotions out in one big episode and was likely to say some things that she didn't mean along with the things she did mean. Sure enough…

"I-I really just can't stand that Aleric guy!" Asuna yelled out. "Who does he think he is, taking advantage of Negi when he was down? Using his father to get to him and then turning him into some jerk that… that would attack us and say it was his job!"

"Now hold on a minute," said Setsuna. "Yesterday I was the one who was furious with Negi-sensei, but you told me…"

"I thought that the bozu was being controlled by magic!" Asuna cut her off while simultaneously choking back a sob. "No… I was actually _hoping_ that he was being controlled! That would have made it… easier… to bring him back to our side! Instead that bastard tricked him with his sweet talk about his father and… and turned him against us!"

Setsuna was confused. Asuna's current attitude was a complete contrast to what it was before. She had been fairly calm and verbally defensive of Negi earlier, yet now she was falling apart and cursing his new master with everything she had. What had happened to make her so upset and change her approach? Then it clicked. "Asuna-san," Setsuna started, "what happened in that vision that made you so angry?"

Asuna seemed surprised for a moment before her demeanor became one of bitter, trembling sadness. "I'm totally furious with that Aleric-baka, but I'm even angrier with myself."

"And why is that, Asuna-kun?"

Both college students jumped and looked to see that Takamichi had come into the clearing. Asuna's mournful gaze met Takamichi's concerned, serious one before shifting to the ground. The redhead was silent for a moment before speaking again.

"I… it's because… when I saw… that Aleric-baka… testing Negi like Eva-chan used to… promising him stories about his father… I-I thought 'why does he get to be the one to help Negi get stronger?'" Asuna said through clenched teeth. Now the dam had broken and Asuna _really_ began to let her feelings out. Fully sobbing and not even looking at Setsuna and Takamichi she screamed, "I hate Aleric! I hate him more than anything else in this world! And the same goes for those three guys Negi came here with! I hate all of their guts! But why do I hate them?"

Setsuna made a move to stop her friend's rant but Takamichi held her back. _"Asuna-kun has to get this out of her system or it will poison her good heart,"_ thought the _iaiken_-user.

Suddenly Asuna's voice dropped down to a whisper. "I-I'm jealous," she said with a self-loathing tone. "I'm jealous that a bunch of people I never even met got to be the ones to see and help Negi grow stronger!" Her volume returned to its former level. "I don't even know the names of the jerks that Negi brought along and I despise them like they'd killed him! And you know what the worst part is?" Asuna's voice went back down again. "I don't like feeling hatred and jealousy," she hissed, mostly at herself. "Good people don't feel bad things like that. But if I had stepped up four years ago, when Negi-bozu needed me to, I wouldn't have to be feeling this way right now. Negi would have stayed with us and…"

Asuna was stopped by the feel of someone's arms wrapping around her shoulders. She opened her mismatched eyes to see that Setsuna had drawn her into a warm embrace.

"You're wrong, Asuna-san," said the half-demon in her softest voice. "It doesn't make you a bad person just because you feel jealous of someone. All that proves is that you're flawed just like the rest of us." Here Setsuna's tone became one of light scolding. "And who do think you are, making it out like you were the only one at fault? I was there as well, you know! I was just as much to blame as you were! I heard Negi-sensei's call for help but was too distracted by the thief I was facing to do anything." Setsuna pulled back to look at Asuna's stunned, tear-stained expression and gave a sad smile. "It might not be my place to say this but… I think that Ministra that have bonded with the same mage share in their responsibility to protect that mage. And if something _does_ happen to that mage… it is a joint failure of all his partners. So, truly, the event that led to Negi-sensei's fall was everyone's fault."

"Well said, Setsuna-kun," came Takamichi's pained voice. Asuna's already flushed face lit up even more as the older man laid his hand on the top of her head. "You and Negi-kun are cut from the same cloth, Asuna-kun. Don't you remember how Negi-kun would try to take responsibility for everything that went wrong? You always used to chew him out whenever he did that. And now here you are trying to do the same thing!"

Asuna gawked at her former English teacher. _"He's right!"_ she realized. _"Takahata-sensei is absolutely right! What was I thinking? This _is_ exactly how Negi used to act! I must be the biggest hypocrite of all time!"_

Asuna wiped her face and tried her level best to smile. "I'm sorry, Takahata-sensei, Setsuna-san," Asuna said shakily. "I guess I felt so guilty I let it get the best of me."

"You guess?" replied Setsuna good-naturedly. "Come on, Asuna-san! You were totally out there!"

"You don't have to rub it in, you know!"

Takamichi chuckled at the antics. Truth be told, this was only a chance encounter. He had been on his way over to Evangeline's cabin to check on her progress with the ball containing Negi's memories when he heard Asuna's rather loud guilt trip. _"Ah, that's right,"_ the man thought. _"The Dean asked me to find out if any more of Negi-kun's thoughts had been unlocked. Now I'm going to be late. Oh well! Hopefully anything Evangeline-san might have uncovered won't be too terribly important."_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Come, Spirits of Air and Lightning! Southern Storm Which Blows with…"

Makie's incantation stopped suddenly. "I'm sorry," she said to her master. "What does the southern storm blow with again?"

Had Aleric been the type of character to facevault he would have. As it was all he could manage was a mildly irritated look and a prompt correction. "Lightning," he said with his quiet, serious voice. "Southern storm which blows with _lightning_."

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Makie. The future Magistra Magi then turned back towards her target (an out-of-date and abandoned water tower on the outskirts of Seoul), pointed her wand/gymnastics ribbon at it, and gave the spell a second try.

"Come, Spirits of Air and Lightning! Southern Storm Which Blows with Lightning! Jupiter's Storm of Thunder!"

This time Makie's attack came off without a hitch. Even if the tower had been in top condition it would never have survived the massive onslaught of wind and thunder magic. The structure was ripped apart and sent away from the two mages as shrapnel.

"Very good," said Aleric shortly. "Now all you have to do is totally memorize the incantation and you're set."

"Aha… right, will do," said the embarrassed apprentice mage. "I always have trouble with remembering the words. Latin just isn't my thing!"

"Don't get so worked up," said Aleric with grin. "Negi-kun's father, Nagi Springfield, has the same problem!"

"Negi-kun's papa?" asked Makie. "But he's supposed to have mastered a thousand different spells!"

"Not so much," said Aleric flatly. "That guy really only has seven spells memorized at most. He keeps all the others written down on pocket notes that he looks up whenever he gets the chance."

"No way!" cried Makie, stunned.

"Take my word for it," said Aleric, nodding. "And I should know. After all, there was that one time that I actually had to…" Aleric stopped suddenly, sensing a presence passing through his barrier.

"What is it, Aleric-sensei?" queried Makie.

The Magister was quiet for a moment before discerning what had come within the range of his perception. He raised an eyebrow. "Now what could have happened on their end?" he asked no one in particular. Makie watched as a small bird flew toward her teacher and was absorbed into the card he pulled, seemingly, out of thin air. Aleric then held the card to his forehead and closed his eyes.

After several seconds of silence Makie grew tired of waiting and decided to speak. "Excuse me, Aleric-sensei," she chirped. "But I'm just a little behind on what's happening here."

In reply Aleric raised one hand and said, "Hold on. I'll be with you in a moment."

Precisely what was going on was this: Aleric was receiving a delayed telepathic message from his Minister Magi, Alexander Titov, who was currently in the Magic World organizing the sympathizers of their cause. The missive was both detailed and to the point, outlining the progress of his main objective as well as a new development: the latest vision Alexander had experienced.

While Aleric possessed an almost unreal (some would say unfair, given his age) proficiency with the arcane art of spell casting, he was no master of Divination by any stretch of the imagination. Any predictions he came up with were only as reliable as weather forecasts were in the 1970's. Alexander, on the other hand, was probably the greatest Seer alive today. As he had a ninety-five percent accuracy rating it was hard to refute any of his prophecies. And this newest vision told that if Negi Springfield was to succeed in his current mission he would need the help of his fellow apprentice under Aleric.

Having relayed all that it was meant to, the communication ended, and Aleric was left to place his pactio card back within the folds of his cloak and send Makie on her biggest training assignment yet.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Kazumi's eyelids fluttered open. Her first thought after regaining consciousness was to get back up on her feet as soon as possible. Then the throbbing in her – well, everywhere actually – forced her to reassess her priorities.

She let out a groan of pain, placed her hand over her forehead, and said, "Where am I?"

"This is gonna sound pretty bad considering your state," said a girl's voice from somewhere nearby. "You are in a motel room in Honolulu, Hawaii. We brought you here after Captain Negi got you out of that rat hole."

Kazumi, very gently, turned her head to her right and saw that the speaker was a brown- haired girl who was a little younger than herself. "Who are you?"

"My name is Rebecca," answered the girl. "I am one of the Shadow Hunters you requested to protect you until you can testify against the group that beat you."

Kazumi lifted her eyebrows. This girl was a Shadow Hunter? But she only looked about sixteen! _"Then again wasn't Negi-kun only ten when he became a teacher?"_ she asked herself. Then something else that Rebecca had said sunk in. "Wait a second! _Captain_ Negi? You mean to say that Negi-kun is one of you?"

"Well, that was your textbook example of a delayed reaction," said Rebecca, sounding somehow irritated. _"Where does she get off calling him Negi-_kun_?"_ asked a nasty little voice in her head. The Huntress didn't really know why she felt aggravated over such a small thing. _"I'm just upset that she knows how strong he is and isn't showing him the proper respect. Yeah. That's all it is."_

Then the door to the room opened and the Shadow Hunter Captain in question strode in.

"Feeling any better, Asakura-san?" asked Negi with a small smile.

Kazumi tested her injuries and was quickly able to answer her former teacher's question. "Just a little bit. It doesn't feel like I'm going to pass out at any moment." She said this with a strange combination of enthusiasm and disappointment. Enthusiastic because she had survived the most terrifying experience of her life. Disappointed because she had hoped to wake up and find it had all been a nightmare induced by that pineapple-clam pizza she'd had the other night.

"Well, that's not surprising," Negi said somewhat grimly. "You took quite a beating before I was able to get to you. Sorry 'bout that."

"Ah well, I guess I can let it slide," said Kazumi, faking the air of an offended employer. "It's been so long since I last saw you after all." Kazumi then looked at Negi with one eye only, as if sizing him up for one of her photo shoots. Then her gaze shifted over to Rebecca and a smirk appeared on her face. "So…" she drawled. "Are you and she…?"

"We're teammates," interrupted Negi. "We've worked together for years."

"Ah, so you two are very close then," giggled Kazumi, a slight blush joining with her smirk.

No one will ever know why, but it was at this time and place that something snapped inside of Rebecca's subconscious, deciding that she had something to prove with regards to the girls of Negi's old class.

"Yes, we are," said Rebecca. "Captain Negi and I are probably much closer than most of his old students were. Yourself included."

Negi was shocked. He had never expected Rebecca to say something like that even if it was true! But he was also ready to defend her. He knew Kazumi would never let such an opportunity to tease people slip away.

Right on cue…

"Well then, since you guys are so close," began Kazumi, grinning in force now, "then maybe you can answer me a question."

"What?" asked the Huntress, folding her arms.

"How is he?" Kazumi was leering at Rebecca as she asked. "You know, in bed?"

Rebecca was completely thrown by the invasive and unwarranted question and her face showed it. Her cheeks were red like cherries and her mouth was wide open with the lips moving but no sound coming out. This state of shock lasted for all of three seconds. At the end of this time Rebecca's trusty staff suddenly materialized in her hand and she charged towards the bed-ridden Kazumi, shrieking, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

Before the enraged Rebecca could make Kazumi's previous beating look like nothing Negi seized her from behind. Rebecca seemed only just barely to notice.

"I'll grind her into a thousand little pieces!"

"You can't 'grind' our client, Rebecca!"

"Sure I can! It's already been done once already!"

"We're supposed to make sure that _doesn't_ happen!"

For the next few minutes Kazumi watched as Negi slowly talked Rebecca out of committing homicide. _"Perhaps I've gone too far?"_ she wondered. Then she remembered the priceless expression Rebecca had had on and decided _"Nah!"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Evangeline gave a tired sigh.

She'd been working on this stupid orb since the end of its last session and she was getting nowhere. Of course it didn't help that the Dean had given her the task of researching the damn thing and didn't think to assign anyone else to help her. That wasn't including Yue, Nodoka, Konoka, Setsuna, and Asuna who had come on their own, but Eva generally didn't take charity into account. Anyway Asuna hadn't been helping much at all and had left in a snit with Setsuna on her heels. That left just two novice mages, a mediocre mind reader, and a borderline powerless vampire to unravel the secrets of how Negi's memory ball worked.

Ah no, wait. Add the powerless vampire's two Ministra and one perverted ermine to that count and subtract one of the novice magicians: Chachamaru, Chachazero, and Chamo had just come in as Konoka left to answer her buzzing cell phone.

"No progress, Master?" asked the taller of Eva's two partners.

"Only on my part," replied Eva. "About an hour ago I progressed to the point of being extremely annoyed."

"You'd think Aniki could have made it easier for us to understand how his little trinket activates," said Chamo, shaking his furry head.

Yue, who had been using her artifact to look up knowledge on all artifacts pertaining to memory, groaned in resignation. "As far as I can tell," she started, "this ball must have been made to release each memory in sequence as a specific person touches it a specific way. So all we can do is commit to a system of trial and error until we've unlocked the whole thing."

"That figures," whined Chachazero. "More waiting. It'll be forever before I get to see somebody die!"

Just then Konoka came rushing back into the room and snatched the orb off of its perch on Eva's table. The suddenness of this wasn't what got to the others; it was that Konoka started slapping the object after she got an eyeful of it.

"What _are_ you doing, Konoka-san?" asked Chachamaru.

Before she even tried to answer Konoka hit the glass with a full-on palm strike, and just like it had before, the orb lit up and dragged all present back to the world of the past.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, that was fortunate," said Eva, not sure whether to laugh at the irony or yell at the ridiculousness. "Now where is the little fink?"

"Over there!" said Nodoka, pointing towards a pair of blackened wings in the distance.

The group then floated over to where the dragon Gaul had landed. And there, standing next to the enormous creature, were the Negi Springfield and Aleric Marcius of the past.

"I'm confused, Konoka-nee-san," said Chamo. "How did you know you had to hit the thing to get it to work?"

Konoka shook her head. "I didn't," she replied. "I was just following Zazie-san's advice. That was her on the phone by the way. She was calling to find out when Set-chan and I were coming back to the dorm, and I happened to mention how frustrated we were with the orb and she suggested that I hit it to let off some steam."

"How'd you ever get her to say all that?" asked the ermine. "She hardly ever talks at…"

"Shut up!" snapped Eva. "I'm trying to listen!"

The less-than-willful silence allowed the group to hear what Aleric was saying.

"All right Negi, I want you to stay over there." Aleric gestured to a hilltop that was at least a kilometer away. "Do you understand? If you come over here at any point during the next few minutes it's likely you will be killed. Or at least badly maimed."

"Did we miss something?" asked Yue. "Last I saw Aleric was about to tell Negi-sensei about his father."

Negi, not aware of future Yue's question, said, "I understand," and then ran off.

Gaul muttered, "This oughtta be good."

"Well, if it isn't you'll know how it turned out," said Aleric, cracking the muscles in his neck.

"Right," said the beast, before flying away after Negi.

"What's going on?" asked Nodoka.

"My data shows that there is an eighty-percent chance that the inconsistencies we are experiencing are due to Negi-sensei leaving something out of the orb's recollections," said Chachamaru.

"Well, that's aggravating," said Eva.

Suddenly Aleric called out, "So it really is you!"

Then, from somewhere out of sight, an entirely new voice replied, "You were expecting someone else?"

In that moment Evangeline felt her brain go numb. She was incapable of most of her usual clever insults or even higher thought patterns. The only thing she found herself able to do was turn in the direction of the new sound and utter a single word.

"Nagi…?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finally! Chapter fourteen! Sorry this took so long but between Driver's Ed, a dentist's appointment that left the teeth in the lower-right corner of my mouth feeling like they'd been ground to pulp, and life in general it was hard to concentrate. As you can probably tell, next chapter is Aleric vs. Nagi. I do hope you'll enjoy the magical smack down that's coming! Oh, and you will also see Rebecca say this: "Negi, will you quit making so much out of this? What we did last night was just sex!"

See you next time!


	15. Grudge Match Pt 1

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

AnimeManga4evah: While I try to get each chapter out as fast as possible I also try to stress quality over speed. It's been my experience that when writers rush their work it becomes sloppy and ineffective.

Sirilac: Well, before I reserve Nodoka's hearse, maybe you'd like to see who else is up against the wall? Aside from Bookstore there's Haruna, Chamo, Kotaro, and Eva. I might even end up killing off _two_ of these five if I can't decide on just one!

Murraymints999: Thank you once again for an informative review! I've spent a large amount of time researching the canon characters so I would like to think I know how they would react in a non-canon situation. With regards to Rebecca's line later this chapter, well… let's say that there's more to that than meets the eye. You'll find out soon…

Arct1cfox: Thank you! I do hope you enjoy the slug-fest and the character insight that comes after!

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XV

Grudge Match Part One

The group of memory seekers could hardly believe their eyes. This was most certainly _not_ what they had been expecting. Of course, what in the world could have prepared them to see the reappearance of the Thousand Master?

"Ah…" Nodoka gasped.

"Is that…?" started Yue.

"No freakin' way…" said Chamo.

"Nagi…" Eva whispered again. There he was. The man that had cursed her to remain on the Mahora Campus and who was believed by many to be dead! He was standing at the lip of the nearby woods as if out for a pleasant afternoon stroll!

The thoughts of the entire troop watching from above were halted when the great mage started to speak.

"All right then," said Nagi. "If you wanna teach my son, pal…"

"My name is Aleric," interrupted the green-cloaked mage.

"If you wanna teach my son, _Aleric_," Nagi started over. "I'm going to have to make sure you're qualified."

"While I could stand here all day and list reasons why I am fully able to teach your son, Master Nagi," said Aleric with a grin, "I'm certain I'd be wasting my time. And yours."

"Yeah," replied Nagi, sounding somewhat annoyed. "It's just 'Nagi' by the way. There's no 'master' before it."

"Noted," said Aleric.

"And you're right," continued the Thousand Master. "I don't have a lot of time before I have to go back so if we could just get this show on the road?" Nagi raised his hand in the direction that his son and the dragon had gone. Off in the distance Negi saw this and held his staff aloft. Summoned by the call of its former master the magical item flew from Negi's hands and returned to Nagi's. "I have to make sure to give this back," Nagi muttered. "Now let's go! I'll even let you make the first move."

Aleric chuckled. "You're too kind," he said before dissipating into a cloud of smoke.

"_An illusion, huh?"_ thought Nagi with a smirk. The smirk didn't last long, however, as what could only be described as a hailstorm of tree roots erupted from the ground around Nagi and attempted to envelop him. Nagi leapt into the air and counterattacked, sending a huge blast of lightning magic from his fist that enveloped and ripped through the soft wood. The blackened plant life withered and curled up like dead spider legs. Suddenly Nagi wheeled around to see Aleric floating at least eighty feet away with his arms outstretched. Then an enormous magic circle of shifting colors appeared behind the Shadow Hunter leader as he started to chant.

"Let the Spirits of all Elements Hearken to me and Rain upon my foe! Never Ending Arrows!"

Nagi flew forward as the circle behind his foe began to pulse with power. Then Aleric's spell activated, causing streams of every type of magic arrow to fly at the Thousand Master. Nagi attempted to get around the _very_ widespread attack with a _Mid-Air Ground Contractor_ but Aleric wasn't that easy to escape. He had anticipated the ultra-fast move and redirected his line of fire to where Nagi would be only an instant later. Nagi formed his arms into an 'X' over his face as his barrier got slammed with the power of every element known to mages. It was difficult to keep track of what element was hitting what part of the shield; darkness arrows were followed by water arrows, fire arrows gave way to wind arrows, and the wind arrows (when they struck) formed magic chains that quickly shattered against the still-strong barrier. Nagi's magical shield was too strong to be pierced by even this onslaught, but by sheer attrition Nagi was forced back.

"_The kid's not bad!"_ thought Nagi. _"But it'll take a lot more than a few arrows to bring me down!"_ Nagi began using only his left arm to reinforce the barrier while he used his right to gather magic for his own attack.

"**Come forth from the void, O Thunder, and cut down my enemy!"**

And while Nagi prepared this spell he swung his left arm outwards in a sweeping motion that sent a magic wave in all directions, repelling the rain of arrows just long enough for him to finish the incantation.

"**Axe of Lightning!"**

The giant blade of lightning materialized quite a distance away from Nagi and above Aleric before it came down. Aleric was forced to end his 'Never Ending Arrows' spell to bring up a magical shield of his own to block the electrical edge. When it was over Aleric landed hard on his feet. He had received no damage from the attack but the strength of the spell had forced him down. A moment later Nagi was right in front of him trying to bring the battle into close quarters. Aleric quickly found himself at a disadvantage against the Thousand Master's blindingly fast physical assault, but still was not afraid.

"_Even this cannot discourage me,"_ thought Aleric as he diverted Nagi's fist off a course that would have led it crashing into his right eye. _"A 'Traditional Mage' I may be. But as you, Nagi Springfield, are no doubt gathering,"_ he paused to jump over his foe's leg-sweep, _"there is no range that I am 'weak' from."_

"_Something's wrong,"_ realized Nagi. _"My blows don't seem to be having any effect at all!"_ To test that Nagi created an opening by letting Aleric grab one of his arms, using his free hand to seize Aleric's, and delivering a solid kick to his opponent's gut. Aleric hardly even flinched. _"What's going on here?"_ wondered Nagi as his foe retaliated. _"That kick would have driven the breath from _Jack's _lungs! Yet this guy doesn't even take a knee! And what's with this strange magic I'm feeling?"_ That's when Nagi perceived faint luminescent lines on the green cloaked mage's hands and face. From the look of them they would have trailed all over Aleric's body, but his clothes stopped anyone from seeing the full pattern. _"Magic runes,"_ the Thousand Master realized. _"I've never seen designs like those before."_ Nagi chopped Aleric's left hand but it didn't recoil as it should have. _"Well, whatever it is it's stopping all my physical attacks! I'll have to make this a magic-only assault!"_

"_Rats,"_ thought Aleric. _"He's figured me out already! But then, what else could you expect from the Crimson Wing's leader?"_ Aleric's train of thought ended when Nagi grappled his wrist and sent ten-thousand-volts worth of lightning magic into his body. His barrier deflected all of the lethal force from the attack, but it still hurt like nobody's business. Aleric gritted his teeth against the pain and quickly started chanting.

"Phoenix, Bird of Fire and Divinity! Light Placed into My Hand, Shoot Forth the Fire of Your Death!"

Aleric pulled his right hand back, extending the middle and index fingers as he did so. Nagi moved to stop him from finishing the chant but Aleric pinned his right arm and leg down momentarily with the limbs of his unoccupied left side. Pointing his glowing fingertips at Nagi, Aleric ended the incantation.

"Burning Trail of Heaven!"

A beam of light sprang from the index and middle fingers of Aleric's right hand and hit Nagi in the shoulder. It was only a glancing hit but it was enough. At such close range even a barrier as strong as Nagi's couldn't stop the enemy spell from taking effect. The Thousand Master was forced to jump away as the clothing around his left shoulder burst into flames, but chose to leave Aleric with a parting gift: forty-seven unincantated lightning arrows seemed an excellent gift to Nagi. Aleric was caught off guard by the retaliation, was blown backwards, and came skidding to a halt on his hands and one knee.

The Shadow Hunter leader, his cloak somewhat dirtied and torn, shook his head and spat out a gob of saliva mixed with blood. _"It's what I get for letting my shield down, even just a little bit,"_ he thought in self-reprimand. Then he looked up to see his rival working feverishly to put out his ignited left shoulder and heal any damage done. _"Oh well, no time to slow down now!"_

Just as Nagi touched down again Aleric launched his next attack. At first Nagi didn't even notice, so subtle was its approach, but that didn't last. When a tiny, poisoned stinger is driven into your foot it tends to get your attention.

"Gah!" cried Nagi, looking down at the ground he stood on. _"What the…!"_ he thought, surprised. The dirt that had, only moments ago, been calm and uninteresting was now _alive_ with ants. _"Insect control!"_ Nagi thought, bounding away from the angry colony. But by the feel of several dozen more stings on his legs Nagi knew he had not escaped. He quickly dove his hand into his pocket and pulled out one of his spell booklets. "Let's see…" Nagi muttered to himself. "Where is that… ouch… bug killing spell? Ah, there you are!" He immediately started chanting.

"Spirit of the Purifying Wind! Banish from My Sight All the Swarming Insects! Purging Gust!"

A yellow cloud covered Nagi's body from the ribs down and then spread across the ground like a morning mist. In a matter of seconds all two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand ants that Aleric had summoned were dead from the gas. Nagi quickly shook their carcasses off his legs. "Magic barriers were meant to protect against injuries in combat, not bug bites," Nagi growled to no one.

"**Pass Through the Wall! Spear of Stone!" **

The Thousand Master took to the sky once more, avoiding sudden impalement. _"Well, well!"_ thought Nagi, turning to look at Aleric's completely serious face and the sharpened rock he had attacked with. _"This guy's actually as good as his street cred says he is! I haven't had a fight this good in a long time!"_

"_I can't believe the Thousand Master actually looks up pocket notes while fighting!"_ Aleric thought with a smile. _"Well, everyone has their little eccentricities, I suppose. But I think it's about time for our final exchange of blows. I'm getting tired!"_

"**Heed the Contract and Serve Me, O King of Stone!"**

Nagi heard the incantation for Aleric's finishing spell and quickly moved to match it with his own. He brought out another of his booklets and began reciting the words.

"**Heed the Contract and Serve Me, O Lord of Lightning!" **

The earth around Aleric for twenty feet started to undulate like gelatin as the Shadow Hunter leader maintained his chant.

"**Come, Rising Power, Surging Rock!" **

The leader of the Crimson Wing was at the center of a swirling mass of clouds as he moved his attack towards completion.

"**Come, Clashing Energy, Shattering Thunder!" **

Jagged tips of stone began to appear from the wave-riddled earth surrounding Aleric while a pale light filled the area.

"**Send the Largest Pikes of the World Forth, Including All They Touch in the Wasteland of Death!"**

Sound and light crashed in the skies around Nagi.

"**Bring the Greatest Spear of the Heavens Down from Above, Delivering Swift Justice to the Unworthy in My Sight!"**

When the two Master Mages finally launched their attacks it was a sight to behold.

"**Infinite Petrifying Spikes! **

"**Grand Strike of the Sky!"**

Many pointed, glowing columns of stone sprang from the area affected by Aleric and shot skyward, while a lightning bolt far more vast than anything nature could produce on its own came down from the tip of the staff Nagi held. The two attacks smashed into one another, creating such an explosion that even those of the audience who saw it from the future were blown away. The noise and the light and the wind and the dust and the shockwave that was the backlash from this collision were so immediate, so overwhelming, that for a moment everything seemed to fade into oblivion.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Far removed from the chaos of the past Negi Springfield sat in the middle of a very tense situation; trying to look detached while being on guard against Rebecca tearing Kazumi's face off while she slept.

The four Shadow Hunters were spread out in the oddly spacious motel room with the sleeping Paparazzo and her ghostly assistant Sayo. With Negi sitting in a chair close to the window, Sati using her strings to hang upside-down like a bat, and Herald juggling horseshoes (and bending them thereafter), Rebecca was the one nearest to their client. She was just leaning against the wall looking at the floor with no expression. It had taken a long time to get her calmed down after Kazumi's questionnaire but now Rebecca appeared to have resumed her usual relaxed demeanor. Still and all, Rebecca was an actor; she could make one of the angriest expressions you ever dreamt of when she really felt like laughing. So Negi couldn't truly be certain if Rebecca had put the incident behind her or not. He hoped she'd work it out by herself.

For Rebecca's part she was trying to figure out why she had reacted so strongly to such an insignificant comment. Clients had thrown perverted questions at her before and she took them without responding at all. So why had Kazumi been able to breach her normal wall of indifference? Rebecca thought about it and thought about it but could ultimately come to only one conclusion.

She had developed a crush on her team leader.

It was strange; she had been around Negi for years and felt nothing. Of course she had always seen that he would be considered quite a catch by many girls but, until that attempt at teaching her stage kissing, it had never occurred to her to throw herself into the running. Now that it had… well… she wasn't exactly what to do. Romance was never something that had interested her very much, even back when she'd been little. Given her parents' history that wasn't exactly shocking either.

By this time Negi, having not seen any sign of Rebecca coming out of her funk, decided to give her something else to think about.

"I've been thinking," he began, "it might be best if we seek out our enemies before they come after Asakura-san again."

This got the attention of everyone conscious.

"Oooo… really?" asked Sati.

"Did I sound like I was joking?" replied Negi. "I merely recalled the old saying 'the best defense is a good offense.'"

"Awesome!" yelled Herald. "I like where this is going!"

"Shhhhh!" hissed Rebecca. "We're still within hearing range of civilians!"

Negi's rather forceful 'ahem' brought things back under control. "Since those crooks are virtually guaranteed to come back for Asakura-san, and since I don't feel like sitting around waiting for them to get here, I thought we could use a little of what Asakura-san has learned concerning the identities of their higher-ups to seek them out and rough them up a bit. Just enough to scare them out of their minds. That way they'll be too terrified to even try and stop Asakura-san from testifying."

"Sounds all right to me," said Rebecca.

"I'm with you all the way," said Sati in her quietest excited voice.

"Mmm… smacking people around and intimidating a bunch of cowards until they wet themselves," said Herald to himself with a grin. "Oh yeah! I'm in!"

"All right then," said Negi, nodding. He moved his head over in the direction of his former ghost-student. "Aisaka-san."

The friendly spirit jumped when her name was called.

"Can you tell us the names of some of the head thugs, Aisaka-san?"

"Ah, let's see… ah, oh yes!" stammered Sayo. "There's one called Walter Crumb. He's in charge of overseeing the shipments of illegal drugs that come into and out of the United States. Asakura-san's information says he should be in a big city called San Francisco."

Negi quickly thanked Sayo and asked if there was anyone else they could harass.

Sayo nodded. "I think Asakura-san mentioned that there was one right here in Hawaii. A lady. Huh, what was her name again?" Sayo knocked herself in the head with a see-through fist. "It was something like Cat… Catherina Clayson or…"

"Clayton?"

Negi, Sati, and Herald's heads turned to stare at their teammate. Rebecca suddenly had a very dangerous look and feel about her. It was like before but for a key difference: when Kazumi had offended Rebecca earlier she had erupted all over the place and now Rebecca was deathly still. Out of everyone Negi was the first to make the connection that this woman had the same last name as his friend.

"Is she a relation, Rebecca?" he asked.

The Huntress affirmed this. "Captain?" she asked, looking right at her new crush. "Can I speak to you in private?"

"Certainly," replied Negi. "Aisaka-san, if you would, continue telling Herald and Sati about Asakura-san's research. Rebecca and I will be back in a bit."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The air was crisp and clean, as was the view. The top of a mountain was an excellent place to gain perspective on one's purpose. It was so free of unnecessary clutter. From here you could see everything and (if you had the presence of mind to understand) what really mattered. Dimly illuminated by starlight and the sliver of moon visible was the surrounding mountain range filled with trees, small creeks, and nocturnal animals out to feed. All of them were important but it was the greater purpose that they all worked together to serve that made them worthwhile.

At least that is what Fate Averruncus believed. Purpose was what the white-haired boy was really all about, you see. Other things, such as the joy of combat or being recognized by the masses as the strongest, were fun and enjoyable in their place but it was accomplishing what you were put in the world to do that was most important. And Fate's purpose was to bring about change. Of course his methods were not the same as they had been, but the fact remained that he was still an instrument of alteration.

Fate ended his philosophical musings when he detected new arrivals to the area. He didn't bother trying to look around as he already knew what he would see; two cloaked figures, the taller of the two in black with long pieces of fabric extending from all sides of the hood except over the opening, and the other around Fate's height with a more traditional hood and brighter colors.

"Sorry to disturb you," said the taller mage. "But we've encountered a problem."

"What is it?" asked Fate, his gaze still trained on the horizon.

"It is the Activation Stone we'll need to hand over to the Shadow Hunters," replied the shorter mage. "Apparently the people who had it previously drained every last bit of magical power out of it. Until it is recharged the Stone will be completely useless in our allies' plan."

Fate grimaced. That _was_ a problem. The amount of magic it would take to fully recharge that artifact was very large and would be arduous to gather from multiple sources. Additionally, concentrations of magical power big enough to regenerate the Stone's reserves in one setting were so rare as to be almost non-existent. Still for every problem there was a solution, and this problem's solution might just be found with someone who had, once upon a time, been Fate's enemy.

"Tell the others," said Fate, at last turning towards his companions. "Be ready to move out in ten minutes. We have a favor to ask."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Aleric hit the ground hard, heaved himself to his feet, and shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears.

"_Well, that was painful,"_ he thought. _"I think that's the first time anyone's overpowered that attack. But, again, what else would you expect from the Thousand Master?"_

It had been close. The two spells had been relatively equal in power and their masters relatively equal in skill, so the fight had all come down to battle experience, of which Nagi had the greater amount. But Aleric had put up what he considered a decent struggle so he held no regrets about losing.

The Thousand Master landed next to the winded Aleric, breathing rather heavily himself.

"You're pretty good after all, Aleric!" said Nagi with a grin. "And here I came all this way thinking you were just some trumped up kid with a few cheap tricks up his sleeve!"

"Thanks… I think," said Aleric. "So… as for training your son… is it safe to assume that I passed inspection?"

"Hmm… yeah, I guess," replied Nagi with a shrug.

Aleric's eye twitched slightly. Then he turned to see his ally, Gaul, flying towards him with Negi in tow.

"Father!" shouted Negi from atop the dragon.

In response Nagi disappeared only to reappear right next to his son.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you now, Negi," said the Thousand Master, looking saddened. Negi's face fell. He knew his father wouldn't be able to stay long after the fight but he didn't think he'd have to leave so soon. Nagi held out the staff he had given to his child years ago and, with tears in his eyes, Negi took it back. "Hey, hey," said Nagi with a smile. "Don't be getting all emotional over something like this. It's not like we'll never see each other again!"

"I know," said Negi, wiping his eyes. "It's just that I've waited so long to see you again and…"

"Ah, ah!" Nagi cut Negi off. "You're getting all teary eyed again!"

"S-sorry!"

"Listen, kid," said Nagi, placing his hand on Negi's head. "You really should stop obsessing over me. Try making your own path instead of following me all the time. But," he gave a dramatic sigh, "if it really means that much to you I'll try to send you a postcard now and then. How's that?"

After getting over the shock/elation Negi cried, "O-okay!"

Nagi grinned his toothy grin and floated off Gaul's back. "Hey, Aleric!" he called.

"Yeah?" the Shadow Hunter leader asked.

"Make sure you take good care of him or I'll come back and kick your butt a second time!" Nagi shouted.

"I'll keep that in mind!" Aleric replied. "And don't expect to get off so easily next time we spar!"

"Sure, sure," said Nagi, not sounding impressed. "Have fun, everyone!" And with that Nagi Springfield vanished into the sky, and with his departure the vision ended, sending all those whose existence was not dependent on the memory orb back to the present.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Come back!"

"Leave me alone!"

"Please wait!"

"Haven't you degraded me enough already?"

This was a long way from what was usually heard around the dock warehouses. Normally the air was fraught with the sounds of large crates banging together as they were loaded onto their ships, overseers calling out orders, and men grunting as they moved their loads about. Bickering teenagers were hardly even thought of in this setting. Today, however, this argument reverberated into every nook and cranny of the docks and was causing quite a stir. Especially after the next exchange of words.

"Just wait up a minute," said the boy's voice. "We have got to talk about this!"

Then the girl's voice snapped, "Negi, will you quit making so much out of this? What we did last night was just sex!"

The number of low chuckles this resulted in was unprecedented. However, one woman was not amused by the outburst. She carried a clipboard and an aggravated aura.

"Stupid kids," she growled. "Don't care whose business they interrupt with their inability to control their damn hormones!"

The teens' voices came back with a vengeance.

"No, no," said the boy. "What we did last night was more than just sex! It was important to me! And I think it was important to you too!"

"All right!" cried the girl. "It was one of the most important nights of my life! It was my first time!"

"That's it!" spat the woman with the clipboard. "I've had it!" She roughly turned to the group of gun-toting men beside her. "Will you brainless oafs get up off your butts and do something about those two punks?"

"Like what?" asked one of the thugs.

"Get over there," started the woman, her face reddening, "grab them by the scruffs of their necks, and bring them here to me so I can make sure they never come back again!" When her men didn't react as fast as they could have she screamed, "GO!"

The men, clearly intimidated by their boss, ran in the direction of the argument as fast as they could. Within ten seconds they were out of sight.

"If it was as special to you as it was to me then why are you running away from it?"

"Because I've never felt anything like this before! It's scary to be…"

The teens' extra loud talk was abruptly halted. But instead of muffled gasps and cries of terror, like the lady in-charge was expecting, there was nothing but dead silence. Somewhat suspicious the woman marched after her cronies. Of course she was less than pleased with what she found. All of her men were face down on the concrete, like they had suffered a gang fainting spell. And standing over their prone forms was one girl, about sixteen years old, holding a staff.

"What in the hell…?" swore the woman.

"Hello, mother," said Rebecca sourly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sheesh, that was tough to write! So how was it? Was the Nagi-Aleric fight too long? Not long enough? Too much detail? Not enough detail? And did the later parts make sense? Please review and let me know! I'm willing to make adjustments if I have to.

Oh, and if you found that last part confusing don't worry about it. It's supposed to be confusing for right now but rest assured that there will be a complete explanation next chapter!


	16. Grudge Match Pt 2

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

InTheYearOfTheCat: Sorry for the confusion! Here's your answer now!

AnimeManga4evah: Thank you for the thought but it really doesn't matter. Keep writing your reviews the way you want to.

Sirilac: So you want Evangeline to stick around, eh? That's too bad as I had this really great final battle and death sequence in mind that would have made her the star of the show and, if I do say so myself, brought an incredible end to an incredible life. But I guess I can rework it.

Murraymints999: Thank you for all the kind words! I do hope this chapter comes off as Rebecca's shining moment because that's what I'm aiming for! And you can expect to see a lot more of Fate. Ever since his totally badass laugh in Manga Chapter 225 I've had trouble getting him off my mind!

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XVI

Grudge Match Part Two

It was now nearly noon and Kazumi was beginning to worry. Almost twelve hours had passed from the time Sayo told her that Negi had left the motel room with Rebecca, and nobody had heard a word from either of them since. _"Even if my little joke put naughty ideas into their heads you'd think that they'd at least have come up for air by now,"_ thought the recuperating Paparazzo as she munched her cereal. Despite her large number of unusual experiences, she had to admit that lying injured in a motel bed with a pair of mercenaries and a ghost for company while watching CNN and being fed Froot Loops™ was a new thing.

"Say 'ahhh'," said Sati, holding up another spoonful. _"I can't believe the Captain and Rebecca just left Herald and me here to play nursemaids to this nutty reporter while they're out having who knows what kind of fun!"_

"I hope we get extra hazard pay for this," Herald muttered. "We could very easily be bored to death!"

Sayo, who was possessing her doll on the tabletop, heard the Hunter's mumbling and asked, "Is there something wrong, mercenary-san?"

"My name's not 'mercenary' actually," said Herald with a slightly amused expression. "It's Herald Torgesen. And I was just complaining about getting left out of whatever action Captain Negi and Rebecca have no doubt gotten themselves into."

Kazumi, having just then finished her cereal, was all over how Herald had worded his sentence. "Aren't you a little young to be thinking about having a girl _and_ a boy at the same time?" she asked. "I mean, that's fine if you swing that way but…"

Sati abruptly shoved a tablespoon into Kazumi's mouth, cutting her off. The reporter's throat convulsed as a foul-tasting goo was dropped onto her tongue by the retreating utensil. Kazumi almost spat it out but Sati held her lips shut until she had swallowed the vile stuff.

"Guhh! What was that crap?" Kazumi cried.

"Medicine," said Sati with an impish grin. She held up a smallish bottle. "Captain Negi said you'll have to choke down this entire bottle over a three week period if you want to have the full use of your left arm again. You must have noticed a loss of dexterity, right? That's only going to get worse if it goes untreated."

"Well, why did you wait until after the first dose to tell me?" asked Kazumi, still shuddering with the taste of the fluid.

"I like to surprise people," said Sati lightly.

"Ugh, I need a glass of water," said Kazumi, wiping at her mouth. She quickly dashed over to the sink, filled up one of the plastic cups, and proceeded to guzzle it down.

Surprised and concerned, Sayo floated her doll over onto Herald's shoulder and whispered, "I don't remember Negi-sensei saying anything about medicine."

Herald dropped his voice down so low Sayo had to strain to hear. "He didn't. But _she_ doesn't need to know that."

"_Naughty little girls get fed castor oil,"_ thought Sati with a snicker. 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Negi had never used a combat strategy that made him want to break out into hysterical laughter before. The whole time he and Rebecca were shouting at each other he was trying not to crack up. The entire premise of that staged fight was absurd! He and Rebecca have a one night stand? Never! Of course the thugs they were up against didn't know that, so coming on the scene as what appeared to be an arguing teen couple had put their foes off their guard. Now all he had to do was keep any of Catherina Clayton's goons from interfering and Rebecca could have the one-on-one match with her mother that she wanted.

"_Good luck, Rebecca. And try to avoid committing matricide out of revenge."_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

For one moment Catherina was stupefied. The girl standing amongst the fallen bodies of her men looked almost exactly like herself! The hair, the nose, the facial structure; it was all like her own! And then Catherina saw the one feature that wasn't the same in both parties. The eyes. Rebecca's hazel eyes. Now she knew, beyond any doubt, who this girl was.

But what she didn't know was that Rebecca was aiming an attack at her chest.

"Forty-Two Spirits of Ice, Gather and Rip My Foe to Pieces! Magic Arrows, Array of Ice!"

The chant broke Catherina out of her reverie just in time for her to dodge the frozen projectiles. She barely escaped without injury but her clipboard was shattered to bits as were the papers pinned to it. Rebecca smiled grimly. 

"Surprised to see me?" asked the Huntress.

Catherina drew out a knife in place of her destroyed clipboard. "Yeah," said Catherina. "I'm surprised to see that you're still alive. Definitely should have gotten an abortion when I had the chance."

"Ha!" exclaimed Rebecca. "Your reputation was way too important to you to admit having gotten pregnant due to drugging my father and then raping him while he was barely conscious."

Catherina let out something akin to a snake's hiss and began to chant.

"Fifty-Nine Spirits of Darkness, Gather and Shoot Arrows Upon My Foe! Magic Arrows, Array of Darkness!"

The Shadow Hunter moved in a zigzag pattern, avoiding most of blackened shots. Those arrows that did find their target crashed into Rebecca's barrier and were repelled. Rebecca planted her feet firmly on the ground and unleashed an unincanted wind spell. The huge gust that came from behind the Huntress was enough to catapult several large, nearby objects into the air and hurl them at Catherina.

Catherina was forced to make an undignified scramble against the wind to keep from being hit with a half-dozen metal barrels, an enormous wooden crate, and even the falling bodies of her flunkies. When the debris stopped falling, Catherina charged at Rebecca, expertly twirling her knife as she did so.

Rebecca blocked her mother's first slash with her staff and used _Ground Contractor_. In a flash Rebecca was on Catherina's right, swinging her fist into Catherina's cheek. The older woman fell back but rallied to kick her daughter in the stomach as she went. Rebecca faltered for a moment before collecting herself and redoubling her attack.

"Come on, _mom_," Rebecca spat as she forced Catherina to go on the defensive. "What sucks the most?"

Catherina tried to stab Rebecca but she knocked the knife out of her hand.

"That you were in such a rush to force yourself on dad that you forgot to take any precautions?"

Rebecca held fast as Catherina attempted to seize her staff from her.

"That grandfather would have cut you out of his will if he found out you were expecting out of wedlock?"

The Huntress leg-swept the other woman and shoved her backward.

"That you had to give birth in a semi-sterile bathroom and then left me alive for daddy to find in that park gazebo?"

Catherina brought out a second blade and cut through Rebecca's left shoulder only to see the younger girl fade away like the illusion she was. The real one stood atop the broken wooden crate a few meters off.

"Or is it that, when you sent those mobsters to kill the only other people who knew about your big secret, they failed to kill me like they did my father?"

Catherina stared up at Rebecca with undisguised loathing. "All those things suck," she said without a hint of remorse. "All you are is an error. The result of a series of mistakes I made over the years." Catherina stooped to retrieve her other knife. "But I really should thank you this time. By showing your face here I can be rid of you once and for all!"

"Try it, you murderous old bat," said Rebecca in her iciest voice.

"Gladly," Catherina returned with an equally cold tone before leaping up onto the crate and attacking with both knives.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, it sounds like Rebecca's fight is underway," Negi said to himself after hearing the noises of mystical combat coming from the alley behind him. The knowledge that Rebecca was battling alone worried him not at all; he had the utmost confidence in her and her abilities. And with Catherina as Rebecca's opponent Negi was certain that she would give it everything she had.

He had to admit that he found Rebecca's family history (if you could call it that) rather shocking. You'd never guess from her relaxed demeanor and generally cheery disposition that she had the kind of tragedies in her past that she did. But then he supposed some would say the same about him, so he really didn't dwell on that part too much.

It was what she had said about her late father that had caught his attention the most.

Well, it wasn't so much what Rebecca had said but the way she had said it. The way she talked about him… it's as if he wasn't gone at all. Like she believed he was still right there with her. It had taken him awhile to figure it out but he realized that that was the same way he felt about his father. Rebecca had never said anything of this before but now Negi wished she had. His teammate was fighting right now because she felt her dad would have wanted her to confront Catherina. He understood what it was like, trying to live your life in a way that would make your old man proud. Perhaps if he'd known earlier… no, now that he knew maybe he and Rebecca could talk about this… rather painful subject together.

With all this going through Negi's mind the moans and groans of the defeated criminals at his feet didn't register at all. They had hardly been worth his time anyway. A few of his mid-level spells here and some magic-enhanced martial arts there and every one of the little creeps was down for the count. It had been far too easy.

That's when Negi felt a trio of fairly strong presences enter the area.

Maybe it _had_ been too easy.

"Well, well," said a voice Negi was not familiar with. "If it isn't the son of the Thousand Master himself!"

The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, a feat Negi knew must be due to some spell or artifact. The mercenary put himself on high alert and increased the power of his barrier. Negi could tell there were three of them but he couldn't discern where they were hiding. He obviously wasn't dealing with the riffraff he was usually up against.

"Do we frighten you, Negi Springfield?" asked a second voice. This one Negi had a vague recollection of, but didn't know where he might have heard it before.

"If we don't," began a third, female voice, "then you are a fool."

Now _that_ one Negi had definitely heard before. Unfortunately he had no more time to ponder it as he was suddenly attacked from his left. Negi blocked what he perceived to be a _Ki_-enhanced stroke and turned to face his newest enemies.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Stand still, you coward!" shrieked Catherina.

Rebecca didn't respond. If her self-absorbed windbag of a mother couldn't deal with her constant use of the _Ground Contractor_ technique, that was her problem. But despite the fact that Catherina was unable to land a hit on Rebecca, it did not help the huntress much as she found herself having the same difficulty. Catherina's skill with those knives of hers was a match for Rebecca's staff work, and her greater amount of experience let her anticipate where her daughter's next blow would come from. So, with neither crime boss nor Shadow Hunter able to penetrate their opponent's defense, they found themselves at a stalemate. Some sort of grandstand play would have to be successfully pulled off to end what was now little more than an aerobics contest with deadly weapons.

Catherina grunted, started an unincantated spell, and jumped up onto the roof of one of the warehouses.

Rebecca followed.

"_Gotcha,"_ thought Catherina with a smirk.

As soon as Rebecca's feet touched the warehouse roof she knew there was something wrong. She couldn't move!

"_There must be some kind of magical adhesive on this rooftop!"_ Rebecca's mind screamed. _"So that's what she was doing coming up here!"_

Catherina's smirk turned into a vicious grin as her latest spell began to materialize. A solid ball of highly volatile darkness magic formed in front of Catherina and she sent it flying at her own flesh and blood without a second thought. Rebecca looked up to see the attack coming but still couldn't move to avoid it. She braced herself and her barrier but what happened next was somewhat unexpected; the still-moving ball unleashed a volley of shadow blades at Rebecca at twice the ball's original speed. The blades, while diverted away from all vital areas, managed to get some of their cutting power through Rebecca's shield and caused her several bad slash wounds to her arms and legs.

But the siege was far from over.

Next the sphere slammed head on into Rebecca's already triedbarrier with great force. The tiring huntress, still pinned to one spot, barely managed to remain upright against the pressure from the shadow ball. Rebecca took a chance and opened her eyes. The majority of her field of vision was filled with the rotating black mass that was her current problem and she could see very little beyond it. However, what Rebecca did see made her blood run cold. Catherina was holding her open hand outwards at both her and the spell.

Catherina then used her extended hand to give a small good-bye wave before closing it in a fist. In reply the ball of darkness detonated, blasting the section of roof around it to bits and flinging Rebecca the entire length of the warehouse and into one of the docks below.

She did not get up.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Negi heard the explosion but was incapable of even checking to see if Rebecca was all right. The three masked lunatics he was battling wouldn't permit it. They attacked in turn and together, and seemed to be trying everything they could think of to keep him away from Rebecca's fight. As annoying as they were, Negi had to admit that their teamwork was impressive, if not as polished as Team Delta's.

"You guys are pretty good," Negi complimented his foes. "Are you sure I can't convince you to ditch that loser Catherina and join the Shadow Hunters?"

The trio's only reply was to continue their offensive.

"Guess not," sighed Negi, jumping away from _Ki_ shots, magic arrows of light, and a swarm of tiny demons summoned via Ofuda tags. _"Hmm… eastern magic,"_ thought Negi. He took another look at the group. Despite the animal masks they wore (a bull, a tiger, and a monkey) it was quite easy to tell who was a male and who was a female in their group. The two in bull and tiger masks were men but the lady in monkey mask had certain… ahem!... _assets_ that were hard to conceal. _"Wait a minute,"_ Negi stopped short. _"I know I've heard her voice before… and she's got that monkey thing going… could she be that rogue Kansai mage I fought in Kyoto?"_

In the moment Negi took to analyze the monkey-lady he stopped moving for one critical second. Negi's opponents saw this and tried to capitalize on it.

"Keep your mind on the game, Negi Springfield!" shouted the monkey-lady, activating more of her Ofuda tags. The tags flew all around Negi, surrounding him with a troop of slobbering, teeth-baring primates ranging from chimpanzees to gorillas. The Shadow Hunter blinked.

"_If this is the same Ofuda user I faced before,"_ he thought,_ "then she's certainly taken the kid gloves off."_ One of the gorillas bellowed and lunged at Negi, who responded by using _Ground Contractor_ to get on top of its head. Negi quickly did a count of how many enemy summons he was now facing before leaping into the air. He began incantating a spell.

"Scathach, who Reigns over the Realm of Shadows! Surrender unto my Hands Forty-Eight Barbed Demonic Spears! Lightning Spears!"

The Ofuda primates were either cut to ribbons by the physical nature of the spears or zapped to cinders by the lightning they were made of. But Negi didn't even get a chance to smirk before he was set upon by the enemy in the bull mask. The bull man forced Negi back through the air with a _Ki_-powered display of martial arts. _"This one's fairly skilled,"_ thought Negi, mildly impressed. _"But he's not on the same level as Herald or Kū Fei."_

The mercenary and the masked man landed on the concrete floor and Negi was about to retaliate when his foe suddenly retreated. That's when a magic circle came to life under Negi's feet and caused a blast that sent sharpened shrapnel flying in every direction.

The bull-masked man reappeared next to his companions and asked of his tiger-masked ally, "Did we get him?"

The tiger man, his arms still pointing toward the smoking hole where Negi had been standing, didn't answer. It wasn't necessary as a second later the Shadow Hunter in question touched down on a collection of steel bars.

"Apparently not," said the monkey lady.

"_Okay, time to think of a way out of this,"_ Negi grumbled to himself. _"If I keep going on like I am now these guys will land a lucky shot and things are gonna get ugly."_ Then he added as an afterthought, _"Or I might even have to use _that_ spell."_

Then Negi felt an entirely new magical presence enter the area. It was strong but whoever it belonged to was making an effort to keep it hidden. Because of this Negi's opponents had not sensed the new arrival. _"If they didn't know whoever this is was coming then it's unlikely that he's their friend,"_ decided Negi. _"But maybe I'd better wait and see just what it is this person is here for."_

That choice would lead to one of the more amusing/shocking sights Negi had seen in his life. Just as the monkey lady was pulling her hand back to unleash more Ofuda, something wrapped itself around her ankles and sent her careening into the ground. The woman's head turned sharply backwards to see that a girl, no older than eighteen, had tripped her with some kind of gymnastics ribbon.

"What the…" began all three masked criminals.

Negi was dumbfounded by this turn of events. When he at last recovered his voice he found he could say only one thing: "Makie-san?"

"Hi, Negi-kun!" called Makie with a wave. "Long time no see, huh?" 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Heh, pathetic," drawled Catherina, looking down at the prone form of Rebecca.

The Huntress was lying on her back with her eyes closed and the fingers of her right hand loosely curled around her staff. She was bleeding from numerous wounds, had a dislocated finger on one hand, and her breathing was shallow.

"You know," Catherina said as she positioned her knives over Rebecca's throat, "even though I'm glad I can finally do away with you, I can't help but wonder why it is you chose today to confront me. I mean, if you wanted to take revenge on me or whatever, why didn't you try to kill me before now? It really isn't that tough to find me so it couldn't be that you didn't know where I was…"

Catherina trailed off and moved her blades higher up into the air so as to give herself more room.

"Oh, well," she sighed with an overly dramatic air. "I guess I should stop questioning it and start enjoying it." She zeroed in on the flesh covering Rebecca's Adam's apple. "Good-bye, you worthless little mistake."

Then, as Catherina was bringing the knives down in an 'X' pattern, Rebecca's eyes snapped open. The Huntress's staff, moving so fast that it was just a blur to the unaided eye, erupted from the ground and slammed into Catherina's wrists, sending the older woman's arms upwards and stopping her finishing strike.

Rebecca was up in a heartbeat.

The Shadow Hunter rammed the handle of her weapon into Catherina's chin, staggering her. The crime boss still had no idea what was going on; Rebecca's sudden recovery had completely left her brain in the dust. Catherina then found Rebecca's hand jabbed right up in front of her chest and Rebecca herself incantating a spell.

"Blow Forth and Disarm!"

Catherina was caught off guard by how powerful the disarming spell was. Not only were the knives ejected from her hands but every single shred of clothing, every little bit of fabric on her body, was ripped away by the blast. The look of humiliation on Catherina's face was indescribable as she vainly tried to cover herself with her arms.

Now it was Rebecca's turn to smirk. She wiped some of the blood from her forehead, wrenched the dislocated finger on her left hand back into place, and used her right hand to point the end of her staff between Catherina's eyes.

"Remarkable how quickly things change around here, isn't it?" Rebecca asked of no one in particular. The Huntress started gathering magical power for her own final attack. "And for the record," she paused when she saw the expression of disbelieving horror on Catherina's face. "I didn't come here to take revenge for what you did to me in the past, so I'm not going to kill you." Seeing that her pitiful excuse of a mother had not yet been convinced of her honesty, Rebecca continued, "For two reasons. One, I was taught better than that by a very good man. And two, it isn't necessary to complete my current mission. I wouldn't expect you to know this but I hate excessiveness. The only real reason I have for coming here myself is that I heard you were using the name 'Clayton' to cover your sorry ass."

"SO WHAT?" demanded the naked and furious Catherina.

"So," said Rebecca, her tone as hard as a rock. "That was my father's last name. You are most definitely not deserving of it. Actually there are fungi that are more deserving of it than you are but you get the idea. So the next time you use a fake name…" A glow surrounded the tip of Rebecca's staff that was shoved into Catherina's face. "Make sure it isn't from anyone you've hurt before. It just might come back to bite you."

Rebecca released her unincantated wind spell.

Catherina was blown away and into the lower atmosphere. Her nude form tumbled through the air (creating what some would call quite the show) before finally coming to a stop with an enormous splash in the middle of the bay.

The Huntress stood where she was for a long moment. Then she let out a held breath and began trudging her way over to where she knew her crush would be.

"_I know I heard an explosion of some kind over there,"_ thought Rebecca with a sense of urgency. _"I hope Negi is okay."_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Shadow Hunter captain was at a loss for how to respond to Makie's simple and energetic hello. Of course simple and energetic was how she had always greeted him, but the circumstances of the current situation made it just a little hard to understand. He knew that, after he had been grilled about his adventures at Mahora, Aleric had introduced Makie to the world of magic and had taken her on as his second apprentice but he couldn't wrap his mind around why she would be here. In the end he chose to save getting reacquainted with Baka Pink for later as there were more pressing matters to deal with.

Speaking of which, one of those more pressing matters had charged Makie and was trying to break her in half for her interruption.

"You shouldn't have interfered!" growled the bull-masked man, launching more of his _Ki_ projectiles from his fists. Makie happily cartwheeled out of their path.

"You know," said Makie, her smile never faltering, "you might really want to look into some anger management classes! I think you could use them!"

Negi would have smiled at his former student's jab but didn't have the time; the monkey lady was moving to dispose of his former student while she was occupied with her bull-faced friend.

"Stupid girl," hissed the woman. "We'll see how peppy she is when there are fifty howler monkeys screaming into…"

"Amagasaki!" barked the man in the tiger mask. "Don't forget Springfield!"

The newly-named monkey lady barely managed to reverse her field in time to summon a lesser demon to absorb the force from Negi's punch. Unfortunately the 'Cherry Blossom Crumbling Fist' proved too powerful for the eastern mage's guard and she had to leap away to avoid the shockwave created by the destruction of her summon.

Amagasaki's tiger-masked ally appeared at her side as Negi emerged from the dust cloud with a look of exasperated amusement.

"I had a feeling it was you," sighed the mercenary. "You're the same woman I fought when I visited Kyoto a few years ago, aren't you?"

The Ofuda-user's body language hinted at surprise before stiffening into an obvious show of pent-up hostility. She reached up and roughly yanked her mask off. It was the face of Chigusa Amagasaki, minus the large circular glasses she had worn last time, and it was contorted into an expression of great anger. Upon witnessing this Negi's own expression changed into one of irritation.

"Please don't tell me that the whole reason you and your two pals are here is to take revenge for my hand in your downfall?" asked Negi, massaging his left temple.

"None of your damn business!" snapped Chigusa.

Negi shrugged. "Oh well," he sighed again. "It's not all that important anyway."

Just then a shout from Chigusa's bull-masked friend overcame all other noise.

"AT LEAST I'M NOT SOME SECOND-RATE GYMNAST!"

"_Second_-rate…?" was the highly insulted answer from Makie.

"_Uh oh,"_ thought Negi. _"I'd better finish things here so I can help Makie-san. She gets just a little crazy when someone badmouths her gymnastics."_ And then, one perfectly performed _Ground Contractor_ later, the Shadow Hunter was standing right in front of his two enemies. Before either one could properly react Negi punched both of them in their stomachs and sent them flying on the brunt of light arrows fired from there. Chigusa landed hard on her back and painfully propped herself up on her elbows, whereas the man in the tiger mask touched down upright but dropped down on one knee afterwards.

Some distance away Makie had received several more rude comments about her passion for rhythmic gymnastics and had finally had enough. It was time to teach this jerk a lesson he'd never forget! No matter how hard he tried! She pointed her wand at her opponent's masked face, began twirling the long ribbon on the end of it, and invoked her favorite unincanted spell. 

From the bull man's point of view it appeared that all Makie was doing was moving her ribbon around in a spiral at him. For some reason the sight of it made him angry. Here he was, about punch her face out, and she was playing at being in an Olympic tryout! He'd teach her not to screw around!

The bull man renewed his assault on Makie only to have the girl sidestep every strike. He was getting more and more furious by the second. In a few moments he wasn't even aware that the girl was still spinning her wand's accessory. All that mattered was catching his prey. The bull man wasn't even thinking about what would come after as long as he could get a hold of the gymnast.

What this meant was that Makie's trap had worked like a charm.

The hypnosis spell was a relatively simple one, but with no audible incantation plus the added help of the swirling ribbon it became a very subtle, effort-efficient way to influence your foe's actions. Those who knew Makie would say that the reddish-orange- haired girl could have never thought up this kind of underhanded trick on her own; and they would have been right. It had actually been Aleric's nimble mind that had given birth to this strategy but it _was_ Makie who was making it work. The bull man was now completely in the thrall of her magic.

"_So far, so good,"_ thought the girl. _"Now I just have to…"_

Makie let herself trail off as her enemy almost landed a hit on her nose. Now she started falling back against his attack but she was by no means losing the upper hand. It was just what Aleric had told her was supposed to happen.

At the same time Chigusa and the tiger man had made it to their feet and were launching a counterattack on Negi. First was Chigusa's eastern magic as she hurled another of her tags into the space between her and the Shadow Hunter.

"Talisman-san, Talisman-san!" chanted the black-haired woman in Japanese. "Blind My Enemy with Your Light!"

The glare that came from the rune-covered strip of paper was absolutely blinding. Negi was forced to shut his eyes or risk losing his sight. And that's when Chigusa's companion joined the fray.

"Ninety-Seven Spirits of Light, Gather and Shoot Arrows Upon My Foe! Magic Arrows, Array of Light!" 

The tiger man's light-based attack was totally invisible under the circumstances but Negi wasn't about to stand around and let his barrier get pounded just because of that. He raised his arms and used one of the few darkness spells he knew by heart.

"**Come Up from the Pit, Consuming Shadow, and Swallow the Light! Wave of Darkness!"**

The pulse of shadow magic spread outwards from Negi's hands and was promptly met by the light arrows. Many of the projectiles were extinguished by the shadow and those that did make it through were stopped by the Hunter's shield. Negi's spell gave out after consuming Chigusa's talisman due to its short range of effect.

Chigusa opened her mouth to utter something foul but never got the chance as, at that very moment, her bull-masked ally bashed into her and their mutual friend from the side.

Makie appeared a moment later.

"That's from the second-rate gymnast!" she cried.

"All right, you three," said Negi. "You either get out of here right now or I show you how nasty I can be when I'm upset."

Chigusa was about to scream that there was no way they'd admit defeat but the amount of killer intent he released at that instant stopped her dead. Instead she just shot Negi a look of pure venom.

"Fine!" she spat. "We'll retreat for now but don't think for a second that this is over!" The bitter Ofuda-user grabbed her two teammates and held up a teleportation talisman. In a rush of light and wind all three criminals vanished.

"Good riddance," said Makie.

"To bad rubbish," finished Negi. "Thanks for the help, Makie-san."

"No problem, Negi-kun!" Makie cheered happily. Then she took a moment to inspect him.

Negi saw this and asked, "What?"

Makie let out a squeal. "I haven't seen you in such a long time and now just look at you! You're taller than I am!" She paused for a second to grab his face. "And you're so handsome! You must have a girlfriend by now, right?"

"Aw, come on, Makie-san," moaned Negi. "Cut it out!"

"Hey, hey, what's going on here?"

Negi and Makie turned and saw that Rebecca had arrived. She appeared moderately injured and badly perturbed. Negi freed his cheeks and began the introductions. "This is Makie Sasaki, one of my former students," he said to Rebecca. "And Makie, this is Rebecca Clayton. We work together."

"Not to be rude, Captain," said Rebecca shortly. "But it might be best if we get back to our client as soon as possible. Our foes were somewhat stronger than we had anticipated, after all."

Negi seemed surprised for a moment but nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea. Herald and Sati are probably ready to kill by now!" Rebecca gave a slight smile that faded when Negi turned his head back towards Makie. "And on the way back maybe Makie-san could tell us how she knew to come here. Not that I'm ungrateful but it is something that warrants an explanation."

"Sure thing, Negi-kun!" said Makie.

As the group of three started back to where their old classmates and current teammates waited each had a unique train of thought.

"_Great. Another one who feels the need to call him Negi-_kun_."_

"_Rebecca-chan is so totally in love with Negi-kun! It's _so_ cute!"_

"_This is shaping up to be a really unusual day."_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

At last it's here! Is it me or are these chapters getting longer? Maybe that's why I'm only updating once every other week now.

Anyway, I have a theory about one of the lesser mysteries in the Negima manga. Remember that picture of the entire Crimson Wing gathered together? Remember what looks like a white haired boy standing next to Nagi? I think that picture may have mystically altered and that the person may actually have been Asuna. What do you think? Does it sound plausible or have I finally gone off the deep end?

Well, that's all till next time. But until next time I leave you with this piece of advice: you never know what Fate might have in store for you.


	17. Machinations

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

AnimeManga4evah: Remember in Manga Chapter 202, when Rakan was talking about the Crimson Wing? Takamichi is clearly singled out and there's _another_ white-haired boy standing behind Albireo and that one looks much more like the one in the picture.

Sirilac: I suppose that's possible as well. Of course it's all just fan-based guesswork so it's no big deal! Now, as far as Evangeline goes, this is what I'll do: I'll go ahead with the epic fight scene but I'll end it with a cliffhanger and let your review decide whether she lives or dies. Sound all right to you? Oh, and I reviewed your story 'Chao Lingshen' by the way. Just in case you hadn't noticed!

Murraymints999: Thank you yet again! The Rebecca/Catherina fight took me days to finish so it's good to hear it was worth the effort! And you brought up an interesting point about Takamichi's absence. Maybe he was the one taking the picture? I don't know, but like I said above, it's just a theory! I just dreamt it up as a possible explanation for all the loose ends I'm seeing in the Magic World civil war flashbacks.

Bassclone13: Thank you! In case you were still wondering what's up with the Mahora crew, wonder no more! They're back!

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XVII

Machinations

"We might as well forget about it," said Evangeline. She stood on the path to her cabin before the assembled fighters and magicians of the former class 3-A.

"Forget about what, Evangeline-san?" asked Setsuna.

The vampire shot a sour look at the swordswoman and said, "About getting boya back anytime soon."

"W-what are you saying, Eva-chan?" cried Asuna. "We can't just give up!"

"Heh," sneered Eva. "What a surprise. You're not thinking things through."

"Asuna-san, as much as I hate to admit it," said Yue, "I think Evangeline-san may be right."

"What do you mean?" demanded Haruna.

"I think what they mean," interjected Mana, "is that we will probably have a better chance of successfully finding Negi if we focus our attentions on tracking the movements of the Shadow Hunter organization itself rather than going after Negi-sensei directly."

"Huh?" said Asuna and Konoka at the same time.

"Oy," said Eva. "All right, since it's clear that some of the dumber ones require a lecture I'll give it to you."

"Oh no, Evangeline-dono, you don't have to…" started Kaede before being cut off.

"The reasons why looking for Negi Springfield directly would be a waste of time are as follows!" snapped Eva. "Number one: Negi doesn't want to come back. It's obvious from his actions that he has embraced his new life and has no intention of giving it up. You might be thinking of bringing him back here by force but that takes us to reason number two: Negi is much stronger than any of you. Unlike you people the boya clearly hasn't slacked off on his training and it shows. He was even able to beat Takamichi!"

"Pardon me for interrupting, master," said Chachamaru, "but I believe a large contributing factor to Takahata-sensei's defeat was his inability to get serious against Negi-sensei under such circumstances."

"Who's giving this explanation, you or me?" Eva erupted. The diminutive blond punctuated this by jumping onto the gynoid's back and roughly twisting her wind-up spring.

"Ah, no!" cried a distressed Chachamaru. "M-master… pl-please don't wind me like tha…!" The Ministra's sentence caught in her voice box and was replaced by a strangled yelp.

Watching the childish spat Kū Fei commented, "They are looking like primary school students."

"Or perhaps arguing siblings," added Setsuna.

Eva got to her feet, having finished with poor Chachamaru, and said, "As I was saying, Negi is now too powerful for any of you to take on alone. And even if he wasn't you would have to find him first! We don't even know where he is!"

"Yes, Evangeline is right," said Mana. "Despite the massive search authorized by the dean we have uncovered little to no information about Negi-sensei's activities as a Shadow Hunter. But we have acquired plenty of data on the Shadow Hunters as a whole."

Chachamaru, having finally recovered, stood and rejoined the speech. "It seems that, within that organization, Negi-sensei holds a very important position. Because of this any information regarding him is kept away from where it might be compromised."

"So basically," concluded Yue, "because we do not have a set target nor the power to win in a direct confrontation, we would do better to inspect any organizations that hire the Shadow Hunters to do their dirty work while we train ourselves for when we catch up with Negi."

"I think that sounds reasonable," said Setsuna.

"It makes sense, de-gozaru," said Kaede.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," mumbled Asuna.

"Okay!" said a slightly more perky Eva. "Now that that's settled I believe we should get started. Anyone who thinks they have what it takes to live through hell, be in my resort in five minutes. It's the only way you're going to be up to scratch against those guys."

"Excuse me," Haruna butted in, "but I seem to remember you being useless last time too."

"That was only because my magic was sealed away and you know it!" screeched the Undying Magi.

"_She is _so_ not over losing to them,"_ thought a number of the group.

A few more moments of debate (and a threat by Eva to cut off the use of her resort) later, the troop of Mahora combatants marched off. It was only after everyone had left that another figure stepped out from the trees and onto the path. He (or she) was totally hidden in a cloak that seemed to be constantly shifting colors.

"The princesses have started working seriously again," said the person in a distorted voice. "I will have to report this."

The figure stepped back into the shade of the trees and faded away.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kazumi was amazed by the speed with which she and the others had moved from Hawaii to California. The whole process could only have taken about six hours in all. Negi had simply come back from his extended absence with Rebecca and (shockingly enough) Makie in tow and had everyone packed and on the plane within half an hour.

Now the seven of them – Negi, Rebecca, Sati, Herald, Makie, Sayo, and Kazumi – were on a train to an all-mage town hidden in the mountains.

"So… Makie-san," said Kazumi, her investigative spirit returning. "When did you start running with the Shadow Hunters? Or better yet, when did you find out about magic?"

Makie gave a 'hmm' noise before responding.

"Well," she said, "I think it was about…" A pause, "two weeks after we started high school. I woke up really early one morning because I'd had a dream about Negi-kun. It felt like Yuna and I were chasing him for some reason and he knocked us out. It was really strange because it felt like I had these fangs and it looked like Yuna had them too. Anyway, I went out for a jog because I couldn't fall back asleep and on my way through the World Tree Plaza I saw this man sitting on one of the benches."

"At the time," she continued, now talking into Kazumi's microphone, "I thought dark green cloaks were kinda strange so I stopped. I guess I must have been staring because the next thing I know he's asking me if there was something he could help me with. I started to get all flustered and tried to apologize but he said it was fine and told me his name was Aleric. Then he asked me if I believed in magic and I told him I wasn't sure."

"He just asked if you knew about magic?" questioned Sayo.

"That seems rather incautious," said Kazumi.

"Yeah, well," said Makie. "Long story short, Aleric-sensei explained all about magic, told me that Negi-kun was a mage, and asked if I wanted to help him by becoming one too. I said yes and rest is history!"

"Do the other sports girls…" Kazumi started to ask before Makie cut her off with a shake of the head.

"Aleric-sensei told me to keep it a secret," said the gymnast. "He said if it got out that so many of class 3-A knew about magic the leak in security would be traced back to Negi-kun."

"Which is something I'm very grateful that I didn't have to deal with," commented Negi. "Thank you, Makie-san."

"You're welcome!" chirped the girl.

Rebecca had to resist the urge to make retching noises. _"We're on a mission, we're on a mission,"_ the Huntress chanted to herself. _"This is not the time for romantic intrigue! There will be plenty of time to win him over _after_ Project I is completed!"_ Her thoughts were interrupted by a tap on the shoulder from Sati.

"We're almost to the station," said the black-haired girl.

The group looked out the window to see that they were indeed nearing their destination. The endless sea of trees was now playing host to several scores of buildings that had a distinctly old-fashioned look and feel to them.

"Kind of reminds me of my hometown back in Wales," Negi murmured with a smile.

"Homesick, sensei?" asked Kazumi.

"Just a little," responded Negi.

The train finally came to a stop.

"About time," grumbled Herald. "I was starting to get the bends from being cooped up for so long."

"You sure do like to move, don't you, Herald-san?" asked Sayo.

"Only every minute of every day," said Herald.

"Okay everyone," ordered Negi, opening the door to the compartment. "Let's get going. They can't hold the train forever."

The Shadow Hunters, their clients and ally quickly filed out of the passenger car and onto the train platform. It was a fairly busy place and some of the people looked to be immigrants from the Magic World.

"Wow," said Sati. "I wasn't expecting it to be this crowded."

"This is California," said Rebecca. "Almost anywhere you go is crowded."

"Somehow I doubt that," said Negi with a slightly amused grin. "Now then," he turned to Kazumi, "there is a Shadow Hunter office in this town. You'll be much safer there than…"

Just then a voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Attention!" it said. "Attention, would a Master Negi Springfield please come to the information desk! Someone has dropped off a letter for you!"

"All right, no one get excited," said Negi before anyone could react. "Wait right here. I'll be back."

The Hunter captain strode toward the information desk, took the envelope, and (after an exchange of thanks with the attendant) promptly opened it. If just getting it had been a surprise then its contents were absolutely flabbergasting.

This is what it said:

_Negi-kun,_

_I have a matter of some urgency to discuss with you. Please come to the location pinpointed on the map. _

_Fate._

At the bottom of the paper was a map of town with a small red dot in the center. Negi quickly began recalibrating his plans as he returned to his companions. And before he told them of this latest development one question resonated strongly throughout his mind.

"_What in the world is Fate doing here?" _

XXXXXXXXXXX

The designated meeting place turned out to be an open air café in the middle of town. It wouldn't have been Negi's first choice but it worked. He quickly scanned the tables for his rival/ally. He didn't have to look for very long; after all, how many white-haired eleven-year-olds with cold, almost doll-like eyes could there be?

Fate sensed Negi's approach and turned his gaze over to the Shadow Hunter.

"Ah, Negi-kun," he said to his now substantially taller former enemy, "how good of you to come."

Negi sat down in the chair opposite from Fate. "Certainly," he replied. "Even if it is rather sudden."

"I apologize for showing up out of nowhere like this," said the white-haired boy, "but I have a problem that is fairly pressing and I think that you should be able to help."

Negi nodded and moved his hand over the table. On it rested two glasses (one filled with black coffee and the other black tea), a small box of treats that went untouched, and a kettle with milk in it. Negi picked up the kettle and began to pour the dairy product into his tea.

Fate raised an eyebrow. "My, my," he said, "now you're using milk?"

"What?" asked Negi, placing the kettle back down on the table.

"Fragrant, highly refined, and world renowned tea imported from the Magic World and you suddenly put milk in it," said Fate. "In the end milk tea is still just milk tea. It's childish. I'm surprised a Shadow Hunter wouldn't have more advanced taste buds." Fate paused to take a sip of his coffee. "Anyway I'm part of the overwhelming coffee faction so it doesn't matter to me but I'll enlighten you to the spirit of coffee. I drink seven cups a day."

Negi made a slightly aggravated sound as he sipped his own drink. "So you are so unrefined as to pour the same thing into your stomach seven times a day, huh?"

"It's better than milk tea in my opinion."

"You don't know what you're talking about. Milk is the best possible addition to black tea."

"Hmm… well, I do drink black tea as well, but with lemon and a bit of ice."

"Are you serious? Lemon totally ruins black tea's flavor. The ice isn't so bad though. Whenever I have that treasured coffee of yours that's what I take it with."

"Iced coffee huh? Well, I suppose that does have a certain appeal although I've never tried it. It just seems so bizarre to put ice into a drink that was meant to be served hot."

"Um… Fate-sama?"

Both Fate and Negi turned to see that a girl had come over to their table. She was quite obviously from the Magic World, judging by the set of bull horns that sprouted from the top of her head and the tail that could be seen protruding from underneath her cloak.

"Tamaki," said Fate. "Is there a problem?"

The beast-girl shook her horned head. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation," she said, "but we did come here to ask Master Springfield for a favor."

"Ah, yes of course," Fate said, somewhat surprised. "I apologize. It seems that whenever Negi-kun and I are within earshot of one another we get into some kind of competition."

"Which is pretty strange," added Negi, "considering neither one of us is the overly competitive type." After he finished speaking Negi became curious about the dark-skinned girl before him. "You must be one of Fate's Ministra, right?"

Tamaki nodded.

"Well then…," Negi gestured to the seat on his right, "why don't you sit down? Fate and I will be here for a while yet and I dislike the idea of making a lady stand."

Tamaki was surprised by the offer but accepted when she saw Fate give her a look that told her to accept. She quickly did as she was bidden.

"So Fate," began Negi. "You said you had a problem that I could help with. What exactly is this problem?"

"Well, sparing you the finer details, my associates and I find ourselves in need of a massive amount of magical power if we are to be of any use in your master's plan."

Negi blinked and leaned back in his chair. "A massive amount of magical power, huh?" he asked.

"That is correct," answered Fate.

Negi gave the tiniest of smirks before saying, "I think I know where this is going. You guys are hoping to use Konoka's magic, aren't you?"

Fate replied, "That was the general idea, yes."

"What makes you think I'd be able to help you with something like that?" inquired the Hunter.

"Well," began the white-haired mage, "it's not so much that we want your help as it is we're asking for your permission."

"My permission?" asked Negi.

"To move forward with our plan," Fate clarified. "Officially Konoka Konoe is still your Ministra Magi, even if the pactio was only a temporary one, and I doubt very much that I will be able to gain access to her power without the use of force. So I merely came here to ask if it is all right to put her and possibly others of your former class into the line of fire."

Negi looked thoughtful. "You said that you'll need this magical boost if you're to help in Project Infinity?"

"That's right," said Fate. "The activation stone that is to be used in the operation was drained of all its power by previous owners and must be recharged. Otherwise it's just a useless lump of rock."

"I see," Negi said with a shake of the head. "In that case I have but one condition."

"No lasting harm to the princess and her defenders if at all possible?" asked Fate with a slight smile.

"Yes," said Negi seriously.

"I think we can manage that," Fate answered, stealing another sip of his coffee.

"Very good then; go ahead with whatever you're planning, Fate," said Negi. "I have no reason to get in your way."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Negi-kun," said Fate, placing his glass down again. "Is there anything left to discuss before Tamaki and I take our leave?"

"Well, there is one note of interest," said Negi with a frown. "About a day and a half ago I encountered Chigusa Amagasaki."

"Oh, yes," said Fate. "Her again." Seeing the questioning look on his Ministra's face Fate moved to explain. "Chigusa Amagasaki is a rogue mage of the Kansai region in Japan. She and I actually worked together once. As an eastern mage she's highly skilled. As a combat commander… well, it's just a bit like being on a sinking submarine, running to the bridge and finding out the captain is Donald Duck."

Tamaki gave a small 'ah' of understanding.

"Now the last time I saw Amagasaki in Kyoto she was being taken into the custody of the Kansai Magic Association," Negi piped up. "My question for you is: could her escape from Japan and subsequent attack on me in Hawaii have anything…"

"To do with the other survivor from my old faction," finished Fate. "It does sound like something she would do. Tredecim always did take great pleasure in manipulating the vengeful. I'll try to look into it."

"Thank you," said Negi.

"Certainly," replied Fate. The white-haired boy then quickly finished his drink and stood up. "As much fun as this reunion has been I'm afraid I'm going to have to end it now. Tamaki and I have somewhere else to be."

Negi nodded as the horned girl also got to her feet. "Perhaps next time we see each other we can have a spar," he said with just a trace of regret in his voice.

"We can only hope," said Fate. "Farewell, Negi-kun."

Then a puddle of water formed around both Fate and Tamaki's feet. Long trails of clear liquid shot upwards from the edges of the pool and moved in a circular motion to a common point above. When the trails met they collapsed back into the puddle taking both Magister and Ministra with them. Negi was left to drink his tea and watch the tiny body of water evaporate.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Harley sat looking up at the stars. Her dark red eyes singled out constellations, planets, and even shooting stars. All of what she was seeing was but a small glimpse into a universe whose vastness defied even the grandest imagination. It somehow managed to be overwhelming and monotonous all at the same time. Not at all like her teammates, from Harley's point of view.

The original six Shadow Hunters (of whom Harley was one) were a long way from incomprehensible and boring. First there was Gaul, a one-hundred-year-old dragon that could speak common. Next was Hans, the spirit of a regret-laden ex-captain of the Nazi SS who was currently managing their headquarters. After that came Alexander, your resident water-magic user who knows all. Then there was Kevin, with his seemingly endless supply of artifacts and dirty tricks. Following was Harley herself, the combat-savvy daughter of a human and a demon crow who was actually a willing exile from her tribe. Last, but certainly not least, was Aleric, the Master Mage who had brought the entire group together and who was Harley's best friend.

Speaking of whom…

"Yo, Harley," said Aleric, appearing from nowhere. "What's the good word?"

"Progress," replied Harley. She held up the small red crystal that would prove so vital in their strategy. Suddenly it let off a glare and changed color from red to orange. "And we seem to be getting a lot of it lately."

"Yes," Aleric agreed. "Things are moving at breakneck speeds as compared to before Negi's mission to Mahora."

"That did seem to be the kickoff for events," said Harley, staring at the now orange crystal. "I must admit, I was worried that the presence of other operatives would expose the spy we have there."

"Luckily Negi's mission was just to retrieve the Fang of Pain," said Aleric. "Our spy's job is to monitor the words and actions of the two princesses. Because of that we've been getting a steady flow of information on both of them since they've been in middle school."

"That's why I was uneasy about possibly losing the spy," Harley answered, putting the crystal away. "We wouldn't want to be left in the dark about Vesperina, now would we?" A kind of growl came into her voice at the word 'Vesperina'.

Aleric was silent for a moment before asking, "You're not still upset with the Princess of Osita because I was betrothed to her before I was even born, are you?"

Harley's right eyebrow twitched up and down as she said, "A little." Her expression stabilized and she continued. "But personal grudges aside, she is the only one with the power of _Magic Cancel_. And she _is_ still the princess of the old kingdom of Vespertatia. So, since we're going to be wiping all traces of that nation from the Magic World forever, it's reasonable that its surviving royalty would bear serious watching."

"True," Aleric conceded. "It's too much to hope for that we could go through with the plan and not receive interference. Everything's been going smoothly so far but we're still in the early stages. I suspect we'll be getting some backlash fairly soon."

"Ah, let 'em lash back," Harley scoffed. "We're ready."

"We have come a long way to get where we are," said the Shadow Hunter leader. "Our goal is to unite the Magic World. What Nagi Springfield and his Crimson Wing did was noble and did help to a degree, but it was patchwork. The Magic World remains in a state of self-destructive segregation and it will continue to be so unless someone does something to permanently close the wounds that divide it."

"And since nobody else has the stomach for it, this abysmally dirty job falls on our shoulders," said Harley. "No doubt there are many who will hate us for doing this but we'll just have to forge ahead."

"Indeed," nodded Aleric. "But let's not waste any more time. We have to make sure that the Twelve Magical Concentration Points are connected to the Magic World portal or our task will become far harder."

Aleric and Harley brought their hoods up and disappeared from where they were standing, ready to resume their mission.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Hans floated idly through the walls of Fortress Ragnarök, desperate for something interesting to do. Truth be told the life of a mercenary could be quite dull; there just wasn't anything to do when you weren't working. But then Hans wasn't truly alive so maybe that wasn't the best way to put it.

Perhaps he just missed the others? Yes, that was probably it. It had been Aleric, Harley, Alexander, and Kevin who had found him in the ruins of Auschwitz, a pitiful shade of the person he once was. The full story behind how Hans had gotten that way was horrifying and in the interest of his current semi-good mood he would only remember the very end of it.

The year was 1943. Although in the beginning Hans had been taken in by the lies of the Nazi party, the incomprehensible suffering he was forced to witness every day had forced him to see the evil that had taken over his country. The people who were dying all around him from starvation, disease, and exhaustion were just the same as him. They were human beings that felt the same emotions as he did. And so when they had reassigned him to the gas chamber and ordered him to pull the lever that would murder hundreds more innocents Hans had defied his superiors.

He had been immediately shot by his fellow SS guards for treason.

But the grief he felt for not having gone against the senseless cruelty sooner, the pity and horror he felt for those victimized, and the unrestrained hatred he felt for himself and for the 'Thousand Year Reich' acted as a tether that kept him bound to the world long after his death. He had been condemned to haunt the abandoned halls and empty yards of the death camp, trapped amongst the festering memories of what had occurred there, and even the strongest of exorcists – the Shinmeiryuu swordsmen of Japan – were unable to dislodge his restless spirit from that wretched place.

Then, after fifty-five long years of imprisonment, Aleric arrived with his three partners. The green-cloaked mage had made it so Hans could travel beyond the confines of Auschwitz and even asked if he would join his group in their journey. The ghost had eventually agreed, and today Hans was the one who ran the day-to-day operations of the Shadow Hunters' main fortress.

It felt good to have a place in the world again, even if it could get a little repetitive.

The nature of irony dictated that (even as Hans thought of how slow his day was going) something that had never happened before should occur right at that particular place and time. Sure as sugar…

All of Hans' senses snapped to attention. He had just detected one of the silent alarms activating. The spirit instantaneously moved his presence into Aleric's office to assess the problem. He stepped out of the wall and waved his transparent hand. A number of screens rose from the floor and began to display information. It looked like the alarm had been set off by a breach in the security system of one of the Hunter computers.

This was disturbing for several reasons, the first of which being that nobody had ever done it before. Any computers used by the Shadow Hunters to store private data were protected by a combination of high-level security programs and magical spells. Not just any hacker would be able to get past that, nor would just any mage. It would take someone who was both a magic-user _and_ an expert at computers to even attempt hacking one of those.

Hans didn't know where a person could have picked up all the skills necessary for this little feat of info theft and didn't particularly care either. What really mattered at this point was tracking down the fool and making sure that they were silenced.

The ghost dismissed the screens and once more became one with the glowing lines of the fortress. The next moment his voice boomed throughout the mercenary headquarters.

"Team Epsilon! Report to the main office immediately! Priority One!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

I know I'm a rat for making you guys wait longer than usual and then giving you an info dump with no fighting. Despite the fact that it helps put things in perspective and has a few interesting twists I still feel that this chapter is somewhat below par compared to all my other chapters. I'll try to do better next time!


	18. The Hunters and the Hunted

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

AnimeManga4evah: Argh! I can't believe this took so long! Please forgive me!

Murraymints999: Thank you! You have no idea how good it is to hear that the info dump wasn't a complete waste of time! And please forgive the delay with this chapter! Writer's block is never a fun thing to experience!

Yukilumi: Ah, a brutally honest review. I thank you for taking the time to post your opinions but I think you may be missing something: Asuna and the others are _not_ pursuing Negi out of revenge. They are doing it because they feel it is their right to know what is going on in his life and because they do not approve of what Aleric has taught him. As for the fic you think I might be ripping off, could that be 'Lost His Way' by RexRox? I'll admit that story was a big inspiration for mine but there are several key differences.

HikariNoTenshi-San: Thank you!

Sweet Heavens: And thank you as well! Part of the reason this is coming out so late is that I keep getting assailed by ideas for a one-shot about Aleric. You think I should go ahead and make it?

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XVIII

The Hunters and the Hunted

Sati and Herald couldn't help but laugh as they continued to pound their way through mobs of foot soldiers to their goal. For these two Shadow Hunters there was nothing that could compare to the unbridled joy of combat. So, in direct contrast to the subtle methods employed by Negi and Rebecca, Herald and Sati had just stormed their targeted crime boss's headquarters and started bashing people around.

That's not to say that it was a cakewalk, however. This particular underworld tycoon (Walter Crumb by name) had scads of bodyguards and all of them with automatic guns and live ammo. The walls were starting to look like Swiss cheese from all the bullets. So it was more like a video game than a cakewalk.

Sati let out a girlish squeal as a new round of lead tips slammed into her barrier, doing no damage whatsoever. She wagged a finger at her assailants.

"Now, now, boys," she admonished them, "you're just going to make me angry with you!" Sati then thrust her hands down and in perfect unison the arms of the seven thugs she was facing were yanked upwards. Their surprise only intensified as the Huntress started maneuvering her arms about in seemingly random motions. To the complete horror of the restrained men, Sati's near-invisible strings forced them into positions where each one of them had his gun pressed against one of his comrade's head. The last sound any of them heard were two words from Sati Singh: "Mama spank!"

Herald smirked when his ears picked up the noise that meant his teammate had won. He took a quick look around the room. The skyscraper basement where they had initiated this fight was now in tatters, with the fallen bodies of their foes almost everywhere and the smell of ash and ozone filling the air. After taking it all in Herald advanced on the last of their opposition. "You know, pal," he said, lightning magic crackling at his fingertips, "you're only making this harder on yourself. If you'd just tell us where Crumb is…"

"Never, Shadow Hunter trash!" screamed the gangster. His tone was one of defiance but he was clearly shaking from fear.

Herald wasn't at all annoyed by the rude interruption. In fact he seemed somewhat encouraged. "You know," Herald said with a laugh, "I was hoping you'd say something like that!" Then the criminal fired his weapon out of a combination of stark terror and instinct but the metal bullet was no match at all for Herald's electric power. It was zapped to dust in mid-flight. Before any more shots could be fired Herald lashed out with another lightning blast that struck the gunman's still-outstretched hand, melting the first layers of skin and welding the man's gun to his hand. The henchman slumped to the ground, howling in agony.

"Okay," Herald said to the injured thug, "any more clever comments, or are you ready to start talking for real?"

The criminal looked up at Herald. His teeth were clenched and tears of fear and pain stained his cheeks. "I… can't tell you," whispered the man. "He-he'll kill me if I do!"

Herald chuckled. "You seem to be under the impression…" he started and then paused to smash his fist through the solid concrete wall next to the man's head. "That I won't kill you if you don't," the Hunter finished.

The criminal, now _very_ close to wetting himself, turned his eyes back towards the floor and whimpered. "T-the b-boss is on the t-twenty-first floor o-of the building," he said, dragging each word out. "But he'll be leaving in an hour or so."

"Thank you!" said Herald with a smile. "Oh, and F.Y.I., your boss doesn't have to know that you ratted him out. If you're as unconscious as everybody else no one will know it was you."

"If I'm as… oh!" the underling's confused reply was cut short when Herald's hand chop to his neck knocked him out.

Herald stepped away from his victim and turned to see Sati standing behind him.

"So… the twenty-first floor, eh?" said the Huntress.

"That's what he said," confirmed Herald.

Sati gave her biggest grin. "That's a lot of floors to fight our way through," she said. "So let's get on it right away!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Oy," muttered Kazumi to the doll perched on her shoulder. "These Shadow Hunters… they keep you out of danger all right but they don't give interviews or tell you what's really going on. Heck, only Negi-kun and Makie-chan even talk to us here! Everyone else just nods and shrugs to get their point across!"

Sayo sighed. Kazumi was the sort of person who expected a verbal reply when she spoke to someone. Being in the company of nothing but Shadow Hunters (a long throw from the most social group ever to walk the earth) was sure to take a toll on her nerves.

"Come on, Asakura-san," said the haunted doll. "Try and cheer up. Negi-kun did say you could keep that artifact he gave you."

"Well, that's true," conceded Kazumi. It was an intriguing little item to be sure. Simply attach the hearing-aid like device to your ear and it would let you speak and understand almost any language. "Still I would have liked to have used it to actually hold a conversation rather than just making myself heard."

"Sorry about that, Asakura-san."

Kazumi yelped and spun around. Her former teacher seemed to have materialized from nowhere and, Kazumi had to remind herself, he probably had. "Don't scare me like that!" she scolded the teen.

"Oops," said Negi with a sheepish smile. "Anyway, try not to take all the silence personally. Almost every one of my colleagues has a sad story in their past, and they think someone like you will dredge it up again. That's why they're not talking to you."

"Wait," said Kazumi. "ALL of you have a sad past? Is this some kind of theme with you Shadow Hunters?"

"Hardly," said Negi dryly. "And no, not everyone here has a troubled history. Take Sati and Herald for example. Those two simply ran away from their homes to escape overly protective parents."

Kazumi was stunned for a moment before answering. "And that's your idea of a pleasant background?"

"No," said Negi. "But it's much less tragic than… say… my own background. Don't you think?"

Kazumi had no comeback for that one. Knowing that Negi's past consisted of absent parents, attacking demons, and petrified village-mates, a relatively clear-cut case of running away from home didn't really stack up.

Everything was silent until one of the off-duty Shadow Hunters staying at the hideout came into the room. His face bore an expression that stated, without question, his irritation at having to do anything on his vacation other than sleep.

"Hey, Negi," said the Hunter, barely keeping the biting tiredness out of his voice. "There's someone in the main office who wants to see you."

Negi was clearly surprised. He wasn't expecting any visitors, nor any enemies posing as visitors. "Who's calling?" he asked at length.

"I don't know," the lower-ranked Hunter almost whined. "But she did give her name at the desk. Do the names Anya and Nekane mean anything to you?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Asuna ran for her life through the desert section of Eva's resort, stopping every now and then to dodge the darkness-encrusted ice spears that rained down from above.

"_Somebody help me!"_ Asuna screamed within her mind. _"Eva-chan has really gone berserk this time!"_

As if in response to Asuna's panicked thoughts Evangeline broke out into her most intimidating evil laugh. "What's wrong, Kagurazaka?" the vampire called out to her trainee/prey. She floated many stories in the air with her black cape and long blond hair billowing out behind her. "You haven't chickened out, have you? If this is all you can handle then you can forget about chasing after Negi!"

"I'm not done yet!" Asuna shrieked.

"Then stop running away like you were already beaten!" retorted Eva. She followed up with another barrage, this one consisting of speeding balls of light that honed in on their target and then exploded. Asuna raised her sword, preparing to negate Eva's magical attack, when something slammed into the left side of her face and sent her flying.

"_Crap!"_ Asuna cursed, trying to regain her center of gravity. _"I forgot about Chachamaru!"_

The green-haired gynoid stood on one foot, the other being the one she used to attack with. Ones and zeros were momentarily visible in her blue eyes as she studied Asuna's movements and swiftly calculated her next move. An instant later Chachamaru sprang into the air after the falling Asuna. The swordswoman tried to block but only succeeded in getting the flat of her enormous blade bashed into her nose. Temporarily stunned, Asuna could do nothing to stop her foe from ripping her weapon from her grasp and then knocking her down into the sands below. Chachamaru uttered the words, "Forgive me, Asuna-san," as she did this.

Asuna hit the scorching desert floor with enough force to form a good-sized crater around her. She spat several foul-tasting grains out of her mouth and tried to rise, but Evangeline suddenly appeared and shoved her foot down onto Asuna's neck.

Evangeline sneered. "Pathetic," she drawled. "You'll never get anywhere against professional killers this way. Remember this: even though Chachamaru and I were fighting seriously, we still weren't fixated on bringing about your death. If I had been that Aleric person, you'd most likely be a red smear on the sand by now."

Asuna finally gagged from lack of air and forced Eva off of her windpipe. The blond vampire stood smirking next to the redhead as she sputtered and gasped for oxygen. In her heart of hearts, Asuna was truly frustrated by this setback; all her mock battles with Evangeline seemed to end this way. Most irritating of all were the after-beating lectures. Eva-chan always used big impressive words like 'professional' and 'fixated' in her speeches and Asuna never understood any of it. Why couldn't she just talk straight for once?

"Next time," Asuna growled, "I'm definitely gonna make you work for it!"

"Heh," Eva scoffed, "big words from someone who didn't even make all three of us get into the fight."

"Wha…" started the swordswoman. She stopped when she felt something whiz by her head and crash into the ground behind her with a distinctly metallic sound. Asuna turned around to see a giant ax imbedded in the sand not more than a few millimeters away from severing her toes. Sitting atop the blade's handle was Chachazero. The redhead felt a strange combination of an impulse to beat her forehead against the wall and a shiver going up her spine. She had entirely forgotten Evangeline's second partner!

"I don't see why _I_ have to be the last one to get in on the action," grumbled the puppet Ministra.

"Perhaps it is due to your tendency to go too far, even when Master asked you to hold back," supplied Chachamaru. "Remember what happened when we were testing Yue-san? Were it not for Konoka-san's much-improved healing abilities Yue-san would be out an eye and three fingers on her left hand."

"If she can't deal with a few missing digits that's not my problem," said Chachazero dismissively.

"Fair enough," Eva said in her stern voice. "But I gave you an order not to use your full power and you disobeyed. You had to be punished somehow."

"But to leave me out of the entire fight?" whined Chachazero.

"Stop complaining!" snapped Eva. "You should be thankful that you can even move! It's more than you can say for when you're outside the resort!"

"And whose fault is that?" Chachazero shot back, but Eva was no longer paying attention. The vampire had turned and was walking away with Chachamaru and a limping Asuna in tow. "Telling me to be thankful for what I have…" muttered the puppet, "trying to go easy on the weaker targets. I swear every day that Master spends with those girls she gets softer!" The bloodthirsty Ministra closed her eyes, sighed, and pulled her ax out of the sand. Slinging the over-sized weapon over her shoulder Chachazero started after the three figures as they retreated to the exit.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The Shadow Hunter Captain known as Tess McGuiness had a rather nasty reputation for brazenness among her peers. She was possibly the most uncaring of all the Hunters when it came to innocent bystanders. Tess had taken more hostages and caused more public property damage than most of the other captains combined. She only cared about accomplishing her mission, whatever the cost.

So it was safe to say that normally Tess would have no qualms about simply attacking and killing someone suspected of stealing information from the Shadow Hunters. Normally. But in this case it was better to first figure out how much this hacker might have learned about their most secret operations before dishing out punishment. So Tess and her three squad mates (after finally tracking the hacker's computer to Fukushima, Japan) decided to wait until their target's apartment was empty, break in, find out anything and everything they could, and when their target came back, bring him back to headquarters. With or without functioning internal organs.

However, it seemed that this person had taken lessons from grizzly bears as far as hibernating went, and had not left his apartment for the past ninety-six hours. Team Epsilon's patience was beginning to wear thin.

"This is ridiculous," snapped Otto. "We've been waiting outside this apartment for four days, living on takeout sushi and hamburgers, and we haven't gotten a single sign that this info thief has even come out of their hole."

"I know," agreed Tess. "If they don't come out within the next two hours, we'll just go in there and start tearing the guy apart."

"Captain, please tell me you're joking," said Juan.

"Of course I am," sighed the Huntress. "I'm just frustrated with all this waiting."

"Well, you won't have to wait much longer," said Munir, rising to attention. "The door is unlocking!" The four Shadow Hunters moved quickly to conceal themselves as the apartment door swung inwards. Tess was mildly surprised to see a girl step out. Not only was her hair orange, an oddity for a Japanese, but she actually had the guts to try and steal something from the Shadow Hunters. It would be a shame to have to spill those guts out on the ground.

The girl soon disappeared down the hall, several grocery bags in hand. Tess and her three subordinates quickly reappeared and wasted no time picking the locks on the door. "I wonder how somebody can stay inside for four days straight without coming out even once," Tess wondered aloud as she heard the tumblers fall into place. However, they weren't the only things to fall into place as the mercenaries got their first look at the apartment's interior. The still slightly-open closet was filled with an array of costumes and wigs that could be combined in a number of different ways. In addition to this the computer situated on the far table had a digital camera, two flat screen monitors, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and even a green screen for background manipulation. From there it was only a small leap to a few conclusions about this girl.

"She's insane," muttered Juan.

"She's a computer freak," corrected Munir. "Going by all this I think it's safe to assume that she owns and operates her own web page, or something of that nature."

"I'll betcha she reads those corny fan fictions, too," said Otto.

"Enough with the chitchat," said Tess. "See if you can't get inside that computer of hers to see what she might have found out about Project I." This task, however, proved to be far more difficult than any of them would have liked. As soon as the screensaver went away, it was replaced with a password request screen. The next ten minutes were filled with frustration, guesswork, and angry swearing as Team Epsilon attempted to figure out the password for their enemy's computer. Twenty failed passwords later…

"%^&$#%!" cursed Tess. "Forget it! Just start looking around the apartment for anything else that might be useful!"

"No time!" said Otto. "The bitch is coming back." The other three Shadow Hunters focused their senses and determined that the owner of the apartment had indeed returned and was standing outside the door.

"Oh, well," Tess sighed to herself as she and her subordinates moved to conceal themselves. "We gave the easy way a try, I suppose. Now we'll just have to resort to the fun way." Tess readied herself as the door opened and her grocery-laden target stepped inside.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Evangeline, Chamo, Chachamaru, and Chachazero stood observing the group of trainees. They had all been drilled to exhaustion by Eva's combat exercises and were scattered about the tiles like so much trash. Asuna stood in the center of the group, leaning on her sword and still trying to catch her breath. Next to her Konoka lay resting on Setsuna's shoulder, the mage's face pale from the effort she had put into her healing magic and the swordswoman's face flush from her friend's close proximity. Behind them Haruna was sprawled out, nursing her overworked limbs with Nodoka and Yue nearby attempting to cough the last bits of burnt matter out of their lungs. Finally, over to the left, Ku Fei, Kaede, and Kotaro stood covered in dirt, muck, and old blood.

Chamo took all this in and then turned to Eva. He opened his mouth to speak, about to query Eva on why she felt she had to run everyone into the ground with these exercises, but thought better of it at the last second. Unfortunately his brain had already signaled his vocal cords to move and so had to say something. Chamo quickly redirected his attention back towards the worn-ragged troop of fighters. "So how's everyone holding up?" In retrospect it was a stupid question but at least it wouldn't get him frozen in a block of ice by Eva.

Yue let out one last deep throated hack before she turned her irate gaze on the ermine. "How does it look like we're doing?" asked the blue haired girl in a strained voice.

"We're tired Chamo-kun," sighed Konoka onto Setsuna's shoulder. "Very tried."

"Heh heh, out of fight already, huh?" Evangeline mocked. "I can see that I definitely made the right choice in putting you softies through this stamina-building course."

"Eva is mean but correct," said Ku. "Only Kaede, Kotaro, and I not out of breath from training. And Negi-bozu stronger than us so he probably not even break a sweat!"

The mention of Negi's name had a noticeable affect on almost everyone within earshot. Asuna and Kotaro growled and gritted their teeth while those who were on the ground attempted to at least sit up, reminded that they still had a long way to go. Eva smirked at the sight. "I see you're all burning to move on," she said. "I wonder how much more eager you'd be if you knew about our news."

"News?" stuttered Asuna. "What news?"

Eva turned her head to find Chachamaru giving her a questioning look. The vampire shrugged and sighed "Go ahead."

"Thank you master," said Chachamaru. The gynoid made sure she had everyone's attention before speaking again. "We have had two large breakthroughs with our investigation of the Shadow Hunters."

"W-what?"

"Really?"

Chachamaru quickly shushed the surprised outbursts and continued. "Exactly six hours and twenty-nine minutes ago we received an encrypted email from Chisame regarding the Hunters."

"Chisame?" asked Setsuna, clearly surprised.

"Our Chisame?" Haruna continued the skeptical inquisition. "The same Chisame Hasegawa who wants nothing to do with magic and who ran off without so much as a tearful goodbye?"

"That's correct," replied Chachamaru. "When Dean Konoe authorized us to search the internet for clues I sent a message to Chisame asking for her help in that endeavor. It took awhile for her to answer but she agreed and through the use of her artifact she was able to penetrate one of the Shadow Hunters' databases."

"And what did she find?" asked Yue, sounding uncharacteristically anxious.

"Something even I didn't expect," Eva put in. The Undying Mage held up a sheet of paper and handed it to Asuna. "Read this."

The once-exhausted group huddled around Asuna, so they could see what the page contained as well. However comprehension did not come immediately with the sight of the words.

It read:

_The following from the Old World have agreed to support Project Infinity, _

_The New England Magic Association_

_The Lima Magic Association _

_The Hanoi Magic Association _

_The Rome Magic Association_

_The New Delhi Magic Association _

_Cosmo Entelecheia (exiled from Magic World) _

_The types of support these groups will provide our forces are varied. The Lima Association will be allowing us the use of their territories. The Hanoi Association shall act as a source of intelligence and tactical data. The New England Association will supply non-combat assistance to our operations. Finally the Rome and New Delhi Associations have consented to send their top Combat Mages into battle alongside us. The role Cosmo Entelecheia has agreed to is classified and will not be listed here._

The look on Asuna's face became more and more frustrated until she simply had to voice her opinion. "What the hell is all this?"

"I would have thought even an idiot like you would be able to tell," Eva droned with a shake of the head.

"I not really understand what paper is saying either," admitted Ku. "But it no sound like it have anything to do with Negi-bozu."

"What's with all the big name allies these guys have?" wondered Kotaro aloud. "This looks like something on a completely different level than what happened here."

For once Yue was on Kotaro's side. "I doubt this has much to do with a relatively straightforward case of mercenary theft. It has a number of earmarks you might expect of something much bigger. See this here…" She pointed to the top of the paragraph. "Project Infinity. If I were to guess I'd say this is some kind of widespread conspiracy."

Nodoka nodded her agreement. "Look at all these Magic Associations. They're from all over the world."

"Ah, so it's a secret alliance is it?" Haruna whispered excitedly. "A high-level conspiracy among mages!"

"You don't have to sound so happy about it, Haruna-san," said Konoka.

"Indeed," Setsuna backed her friend. "From the sound of things the Shadow Hunters are planning to launch a major offensive with the help of several other big organizations. Even if we don't know what's really going on I can guarantee you one thing." The half-demon paused a moment to make sure Haruna was paying attention and to look her in the eye. "When it involves this many powerful groups people _are_ going to get hurt."

The silence that came after this bit of information was deafening and lasted for several seconds. Ultimately it was Chachamaru who broke it again. "In addition to Chisame's findings Takahata-sensei has discovered evidence of an old Shadow Hunter base somewhere out at sea," said the gynoid. "There's a possibility that information on Negi-sensei could be there. He wanted me to tell you this but he also cautions against us coming along."

"Heh," Kotaro smirked. "You'd think he'd know better than to try and stop us by now."

"We have to go," said Nodoka with a confidence and passion heard only when Negi Springfield was in her thoughts. "If there's even the slightest chance of catching up to Negi-sensei we've got to check it out!"

"Especially after this!" added Asuna, holding the info sheet up. "If that Aleric jerk has dragged Negi into anything unsavory we have to stop 'em!"

Then, much to Asuna's shock, Eva clapped for the redhead's speech. "Very impressive! You actually used the word 'unsavory' correctly in a sentence! I didn't think you had it in you!"

"Oh, shut up, Eva-chan!" snapped Asuna irritably.

Deciding to ignore the insult exchange the until-then silent Kaede stepped up and asked, "Where is this old Shadow Hunter base supposed to be?"

"I believe Takahata-sensei said that the outpost was housed inside the remains of a shipwreck," answered Chachamaru. "The wreck is perched on a number of large rocks jutting up out of the water."

"So in addition to possibly still harboring booby traps," surmised Kaede, "this location is isolated and surrounded by difficult terrain. A truly formidable challenge."

"So…" drawled Eva. "If anyone here wants to back out of this search now's the time." Ultimately this option was met with a blanket denial. Everyone wanted to go. But before they did Evangeline had one more thing to say. "Brood on this. How you perform out there reflects on me. So if you fall apart and die it will make me look foolish for wasting my time on you. Try not to get killed while on a simple scouting mission."

"Don't worry, Eva-chan!" said Konoka enthusiastically. "If anyone gets hurt I'll heal them! And anyway this place is empty, right? Why would there be enemies there?" 

XXXXXXXXXXX

Many, many miles from Mahora rested the derelict ship. The sky above was completely overcast and the wind howled eerily through the abandoned corridors of the ship. Waves crashed roughly into the rocks under the old vessel, sending foam careening into the air. A large hole lay gaping in the side of the ship and only darkness could be seen beyond the rend in the metal.

It was upon this hole that a cold pair of eyes was now locked. With no more sound than a dying whisper Fate Averruncus touched down.

"An interesting place for a hideout, I must admit," he said to himself. "It certainly would be useful for sea-based operations. But I suppose the fragility of the ship's structure is why Aleric only meant for it to be a temporary hideaway. Still it can be used for our purpose."

A girl sporting an oversized hat landed behind Fate with a soft 'clack'. She quickly whipped off her headgear, revealing herself to be Tsukuyomi.

"Good news, Fate-han," said the swordswoman. "The princesses and their friends and bodyguards have taken the bait and are on their way here. They should get here in the next forty-eight hours."

"Excellent," Fate replied. "The info leak was a success then."

"Oh yeah," Tsukuyomi chuckled. "Once we put that scuttlebutt about the deserted Shadow Hunter base here on the internet it was only a matter of time before the Kantō Association found it."

"And now our target is coming to us," said a new voice. Tsukuyomi turned but already knew what she would see. One of Fate's five Ministra had joined them. Her duel pony-tails and eyes like Fate's marked her as Homura. "All we have to do now is make sure that all of Konoe's guardians are neutralized and we should be home free."

"Indeed," agreed Fate. "I'm looking forward to our meeting with Negi-kun's old companions."

"So am I!" cheered Tsukuyomi. "It's been so long since I last dueled Setsuna-sempai! This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Careful," said Fate sharply. "Try not to get so excited that you let your guard down. You won't be able to get away with a mistake like that. Not with this target."

"Aww!" whined Tsukuyomi. "You're no fun, Fate-han!"

The pony-tailed girl gave the swordswoman a stern look. "You should be more respectful of Fate-sama," said Homura. She then turned to see the back of Fate's head. "You can depend on me and the others, Fate-sama. Your Ministra will not let you down."

"I have no worries of that, Homura," replied Fate. "I have the utmost confidence in all of you."

A noticeable blush adorned Homura's cheeks as she answered, "T-thank you, Fate-sama."

"Certainly," said Fate, not at all moved. "But perhaps we should get going. We have guests coming and it just won't do to not be ready when they get here."

The two girls nodded, Tsukuyomi with a giggle, and moments later all three had vanished, leaving the desolate, sea-swept rocks as empty as they ever were.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Yes, that's right! I have not given up and I have not died! I was suffering from an acute case of writer's block, compounded by time constraints and ideas for one-shots that won't leave me alone, and that is why I am late! But all that to one side, I have something to ask all of you: do you think Negi should be able to use Magia Erebea in this story? I just can't seem to decide whether it would be a good thing for the story or not.

Well, that's all for right now! The next chapter will be titled 'The Hand of Fate' so three guesses who will be in it. See you next time!


	19. The Hand of Fate

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

Murraymints999: Thank you! It's so good to know I'm not the only one who gets writer's block. Unfortunately writer's block can't receive all the blame for the delay with this one. I discovered the joys of Code Geass while trying to write this (I love Anya Alstreim's line 'Tag, you're dead.'). It's incredibly hard to concentrate on writing a FanFiction for one show when you've temporally become addicted to another.

I extend my thanks to Random fanfic reader, CrystalBoya, Sweet Heavens, HikariNoTenshi-San, and Midnight Finalage Throw as well. It is because of your overwhelming majority vote that Magia Erebea will be entered into this story.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XIX

The Hand of Fate

Asuna paced the bow of Mahora's yacht impatiently. Nearby Kaede was sharpening her blades and Konoka stood with Setsuna at the very tip of the vessel. Apparently the brown-haired mage was trying to get Setsuna to reenact a scene from some old movie with her, much to the swordswoman's embarrassment. While Asuna would normally have been giggling at the spectacle, today other, more grim thoughts occupied her attention. At the forefront of these was the idea that Negi might actually be part of some evildoer's scheme by choice. Asuna shook her head. No, no, that couldn't be it. Negi might have changed over the last few years and become willing to fight for whoever would pay him most, but he would never…

"You look quite on edge, Asuna-dono," said Kaede, jolting the redhead from her thoughts. The kunoichi took several strides forward and rested her hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know you're worried about Negi-bozu. We all are. But letting yourself get distracted at a time like this won't help, de-gozaru. Everyone needs you to be focused for when we arrive at our destination, Asuna-dono. We need your strength, de-gozaru."

Asuna took a quick glance at Konoka and Setsuna. For a moment Konoka had lost her balance and her ever-ready guardian was forced to fling her arms around Konoka's mid-section to keep her from falling into the ocean waters below. Unfortunately the amount of power Setsuna used in pulling her friend backward was too great and both girls ended up in a tangled heap on the deck. Asuna grinned slightly at the sight. "Don't worry, Kaede-chan. I'll be all right."

Hidden nearby Takamichi smiled a sad smile. "I hope so, Asuna-kun," he murmured. The _iaiken_-user knew Asuna possessed a strong will and great fighting ability, but if that was all it took to survive a perilous situation… well, then his master would still be alive, wouldn't he? Takamichi took a long drag from his cigarette, let out a puff of smoke, and prayed this mission wouldn't become truly dangerous.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"I love the dangerous assignments!" cheered Sati. "It's the only time that I can follow through with my killing attacks!"

"I know, right?" responded Herald.

The trail of bodies that the two were steadily leaving in their wake only served to affirm this exchange. Most were either dead from severe burns or had been hit or thrown so hard that their organs had turned to bundles of goo. Luckily for the remainder of the weakling hoard the two Hunters were closing in on their target.

"Crumb should be just one or two more floors above us, right?" Sati asked once she was finished with the last of her opponents.

"Yeah, but I don't feel like taking the stairs again," answered Herald. "Let's just blow a hole in the ceiling this time."

"Okay, let's blow a hole in the ceiling," agreed Sati. The teenaged Huntress pointed her right arm upwards, opened her hand, and started chanting.

"**Heed the Contract and Serve Me, O Tyrant of Flame! Come, flame of purification, fiery broadsword. Fire and brimstone surging forth, Sodom was burning, turning the sinners into the dust of death! Blazing Heat in the Sky!"**

A less adrenaline-driven mage would never have used their most powerful attack spell on so close a target, but this was Sati Singh. The firestorm that sprang from her palm smashed into the plaster overhead before erupting on the other side with an almighty roar. The entire building shook as its insides were gutted by gale-force winds caused by the sudden shift in temperature. When the fire spell was finally cut off a torrent of soot and dust spilled out from the wound, but Herald and Sati paid it no mind. After leaping up through both hole and dustfall the Hunters were confronted by the very person they had been sent to find.

Right in front of them was the middle-aged man known as Walter Crumb, but it was a long way from a dramatic encounter. The crime boss was on the floor, groaning in pain, and clutching at his smoldering rear end. From the look of things he had been standing just so when Sati's attack had ripped through the floor, and his butt had been caught in the fire.

It was kind of pathetic to behold, and from anyone else the sight would have provoked compassion. From the two mercenaries, however, it provoked only laughter.

"You Shadow Hunters are a cruel lot, aren't you?" hissed Crumb through clenched teeth. "I'm lying here in pieces, and you two are bursting out in hysterics!"

Herald inhaled a shaky breath before answering. "F--forgive us, y-your rottenness, but that's possibly the funniest thing we've seen all day!"

Sati wiped a tear from her eye before giving her own response. "Besides.." a snicker interrupted her. "It's not like this is anything you don't deserve. According to our client's information, you're really a skuzzball. You defraud good people out of their money, you have anyone who tries to stand up to you murdered, and here's the big one—you kidnap teenagers off the street and rent them out to whoever's willing to pay! I'd say a roasted ass is something you've had coming for a long time!"

"Oh, right, like a pair of mercenaries has the right to criticize what I do!" Crumb spat back.

"I'd love to dish out your next physical beating, but Sati and I are finished here," Herald interrupted. He turned to his teammate. "Remember, the captain said if we aren't back by one, he'll be upset with us."

"Oh, yeah," said Sati, as if recalling a distant memory. "Remember the last time he was unhappy with us? We had to brush our teeth for twelve hours straight." In addition to being bad for your gums, it was doubly worse for these two because it was boring. Sati held out her hand and a transparent clock appeared in midair. "Ooh, it's already 12:20! We have about forty minutes to get back, or we'll get stuck doing something really dull."

Herald nodded. "Right. Okay, Crumb-boy, I know things must look bad right now but I think I know what you should do."

"What?" the defrocked criminal growled.

"You should just turn the other cheek."

"Ah, that's awful," said Sati, already walking away. She spared one last giggle at Crumb's expense before teleporting away.

"Bye-bye," said Herald. He held up a small paper talisman, became enveloped in light, and was gone.

Several pain-filled moments ticked by before anything else happened. When it did it only served to heighten Crumb's aggravation. It was all the man could do to keep from snorting in disgust as three newcomers in animal masks appeared. _"Oh, sure, NOW they show up,"_ thought Crumb. _"I don't know why Lady Tredecim bothered sending them out. They didn't seem to do any good for Catherina either!"_

"Damn," murmured Chigusa. "We missed them!"

"Yes, but they didn't miss me," Crumb joked sourly to no one. "You can probably tell from this less-than-dignified injury of mine."

The masked trio's gaze was immediately drawn to Crumb's charred back pockets and then averted in either wincing sympathy or coughing embarrassment. The man in the tiger mask was the first to regain his bearings on the situation. "Well, this is a fine mess," he said. "We didn't even encounter the Hunters this time. All we can do now is get Crumb some medical attention for his, ah…"

"Butt burn," said the man in the bull mask. Chigusa shot her companion a look, and he defended himself. "What?" he said. "I once had a school principal by that name."

"Oh, whatever!" said Chigusa, moving toward the injured criminal. _"I don't see why Tredecim has me work with these guys. They're strong, no question of that, but they're so bizarre!"_ She held up one of her Ofuda tags and summoned a lesser demon to do the manual labor of moving Crumb. One final thought occurred to her before she and her associates departed the scene.

"_I wonder if that Springfield brat's teammates are like that as well; as strange as they are powerful."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wow, this place is creepy," Asuna's voice echoed in the empty corridors of the old ship. On either side of her stood Yue and Kotaro. After arriving at the cluster of rocks where the destroyed vessel rested it had been decided that the group would split up into teams of three. Yue's calm demeanor, pactio artifact, and magical talents had been seen as a good foil to the rashness and brute force of both Asuna and Kotaro, and the trio had taken off toward the ship's stern.

"Well, were you expecting something else?" Kotaro said, trying to keep his voice low. Being loud in this place would be just like having a big red bull's eye painted on your forehead. "And would you please keep it down? As much as I'd prefer to just get in and get back out we have to…"

The half-demon was suddenly cut off. "Hold it," Yue's soft but hard words stopped all movement. The blue-haired mage then reached out with her power, sending a transparent wave of purple light out in all directions. The instant the spell touched the nearest wall a hole opened up in the steel and a revolting hissing sound shot out from inside. A second later hundreds of thousands of cockroaches began to pour from the gap, rushing at the three friends. Oversized mandibles sprouted from their heads and dripped with acid, leaving steaming grooves in the floors and walls.

Asuna wasted no time in launching a counterattack. Bringing her sword up over her head, she swiftly brought it crashing down at the swarming, mutant insects. A beam of light launched itself from the edge of the blade and tore through the roaches' collective mass. A sizable trench appeared in the horde but was soon refilled. Asuna tried again, this time joined by Kotaro's sincerest, _Ki-_filled efforts, only to be rewarded with the same outcome plus several small burns. The two were forced to pull back.

Sensing a war of attrition Yue quickly summoned her magic encyclopedia and hurriedly began searching for an anti-insect spell. By this time the roaches had infested the entire hallway and it was becoming difficult to see the walls, floor, and ceiling through their bodies. The racket caused by their mandibles and joints became loud enough that the group had to shout to make their voices heard. "We can't let these things keep spreading!" called Kotaro. He paused to send a troop of _Inugami_ into the fray. "A few more minutes they'll either trap us in here or find a way out and trouble the others!"

"Working on it!" shouted Yue. "Come on, come on, where is that…? Finally!" Not wasting another second, Yue began chanting.

"Spirit of the Purifying Wind! Banish from My Sight All the Swarming Insects! Purging Gust!"

Yue's embattled companions quickly retreated behind her as the magic took effect. The yellow gas cloud that erupted from the blue-haired mage's outstretched hand quickly filled the entire hallway and enveloped the roaches. The arthropod swarm was finally halted by the onslaught but as fast as they died off more were summoned. Yue was forced to continue the spell lest the little monsters get out of control again. Meanwhile Kotaro and Asuna returned to the fight, Asuna hurling blasts from her sword and Kotaro firing claw-like _Ki_ shots from his hands.

"That's more like it!" cheered Asuna, watching the bug army fall back bit by bit.

"Don't start celebrating yet," growled Kotaro. "It's taking us way too long to get anywhere this way. We'll be here forever at this rate!"

Yue grunted out an agreement. The 'Purging Gust' spell was not meant to be used indefinitely and doing so was taking quite a toll on her magical supply. It wouldn't be long before her strength gave out and they'd be back to square one. _"There has to be a weak point!"_ thought Yue frantically. _"All these roaches have to be coming from somewhere!"_ Suddenly a thought struck her. _"That hole I uncovered! Maybe there's some kind of talisman inside!"_

"Asuna!" Yue cried out to her friend. "Your _Magic Cancel_ power! Aim it at the opening they're coming from!"

"Right!" shouted the redhead in return. Asuna swung her pactio weapon once again, this time unleashing a much more focused beam at the center of the swarm. The laser sliced into the largest clump of roaches and revealed a second light source underneath. The second light didn't last long, however, as Asuna's special power soon nullified the arcane power causing it. All at once the entirety of the roach army was reduced to dust. As three centuries' worth of powder accumulated on the floor the small group breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hoo… that was messy," Yue said, releasing her spell. She let her arms flop down to her sides and felt her magic begin to regenerate.

"It could have been a lot worse," reminded Asuna. Just then a loud ringing noise sent all three combatants into a panic, only to change into an exasperated amusement when they realized it was only the cell phone attached to Asuna's hip. With a half-chuckle Asuna answered the call. "Yo," she said into the receiver.

"_Asuna-san?"_ came Setsuna's voice from the other end. _"I heard some pretty big noises coming from where you're supposed to be. Is everything all right?"_

"It is now," replied Asuna. "We ran into one of the Hunter's traps and it was kinda rough for a while there. We managed to beat it though."

"_That's good to hear,"_ said Setsuna.

"What about things on your end?" asked Asuna. "Find anything on the bridge?"

"_No, and I don't think we will either,"_ Setsuna sighed. _"It's just too obvious a place to leave anything if you ask…"_ The horrible sounds of tearing metal and a gut-wrenching crash cut her off. A shockwave reverberated throughout the ship. _"OJOU-SAMA!"_ was the last thing heard through the phone before the connection was cut.

"Shit!" cursed Asuna. She and the others were already rushing to their friends' aid.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Ku Fei's day was rapidly going to hell in a hand basket. One minute she was helping Konoka and Setsuna explore the destroyed ship's bridge and the next she was pinned by her ankles underneath a ton of broken steel. Normally she'd be able to focus _Ki_ into her legs to smash her way free but the metal actually seemed to be feeding off her power and was preventing her escape. And as if all this wasn't bad enough, Konoka had been trapped on one side of the wreckage while Ku and Setsuna were stuck on the other. __

It was just one of those days.

"KONOKA-OJOU-SAMA!" Setsuna shouted into the debris. "CAN YOU HEAR ME? ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?" For the first few seconds there was no reply, prompting a second cry of worry from Setsuna. It was only after the swordswoman made an unsuccessful attempt at breaking through with her Shinmeiryuu techniques that any kind of noise was heard from the other side.

"I'M OKAY, SET-CHAN!" came Konoka's voice, much to Setsuna's relief. There was still the problem of being separated, however. Ku Fei was still entangled in the mess and Setsuna's attacks had all so far been consumed by the metallic barrier.

"This is some kind of Hunter trap," said Ku. "_Ki_ is having no effect at all. Is actually feeling like wall is absorbing _Ki_."

"You're right, Ku," said Setsuna. "That's exactly what's happening here." Setsuna charged her blade with enough _Ki_ so that it was visible along the razor-sharp edges. Then, instead of trying to slash the pile like before, she gently pressed the tip of the sword against the steel. Sure enough, the glow surrounding the weapon was sucked away into the wreckage. "This is definitely some sort of trap for _Ki_ users," continued the half-demon with narrowed eyes. "I don't know if there's a limit to how much of our power this thing is able to consume, but I don't think we can afford to find out. My 'thunderclap blade' might be able to get through, but it would destroy this whole section of the ship as well."

"SET-CHAN? IS EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT?" called Konoka from behind the junk pile.

"NO, ACTUALLY!" answered Setsuna reluctantly. "MY ATTACKS CAN'T SAFELY PIERCE THIS DEBRIS FIELD! I HATE TO SAY IT, OJOU-SAMA, BUT I THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE TO BE THE ONE TO BLAST THIS TRAP AWAY!"

"TWO THINGS! ONE: STOP CALLING ME OJOU-SAMA!" Setsuna winced at her forgetfulness. "AND TWO: MY ATTACK MAGIC IS WAY BEHIND WHAT YUE-SAN IS CAPABLE OF! I'M NOT SURE I CAN DO IT!"

"It won't be a problem!"

Ku Fei and Setsuna looked around to see that Yue herself, along with Kotaro and Asuna, had arrived in the partially wrecked bridge. The blue-haired girl promptly moved closer to the _Ki_ absorbing trap. After pressing her hand up against it and letting out a 'hmmm' of contemplation Yue yelled into the metal. "KONOKA! I WANT YOU TO STEP AWAY FROM THIS PILE AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR BARRIER AS STRONG AS POSSIBLE! OKAY?"

"YUE-SAN?" asked a surprised Konoka.

Yue ignored the reply and took out the wand that was part of her artifact. _"Time to see if all that late night practicing paid off,"_ she thought, bracing herself for what was to come. She then took sharp aim with the wand and began the chant.

"Come, Spirits of Air and Lightning! Southern Storm Which Blows with Lightning!"

Konoka faintly heard the incantation from the other side of the makeshift wall and swiftly retreated, knowing how powerful that particular spell could be.

"Jupiter's Storm of Thunder!"

The completed attack slammed into its target with all the force of a wrecking ball. Unable to absorb magic like it had _Ki_, the shattered fragments of metal began to give way. Yue gritted her teeth. This was definitely the strongest attack spell she had learned to date, and she marveled that Negi had been able to master it by the time he was ten. She almost lost her hold as the beam finally punched all the way through the debris. _"It seems my control still needs some fine-tuning,"_ she thought somewhat blearily. After a few more moments the opening was big enough for a human to pass through, and Yue cut off the spell.

Konoka practically jumped out of the hole. "That was amazing, Yue-san!" she exclaimed.

"It wasn't all that great," Yue said with a neutral tone laced with some despondency. "I nearly lost control halfway through. I need more practice in order to maintain that spell for the maximum amount of time."

"Oh, come on, Yue," said Asuna, nudging her companion in the ribs. "Don't be such a downer. You got Konoka out of there, didn't you?"

"I did," admitted Yue. "But if I had been able to keep that attack going, I would have been able to get Ku out from under that pile as well." She pointed to the still-pinned and now highly annoyed martial artist.

"I am always seeming to play second fiddle," muttered the Chinese girl loudly enough so that everybody could hear it.

"Whoops," said Kotaro.

"This is us looking stupid," said Asuna, rubbing the back of her head.

"I'll try to get her out," said Konoka cheerily. "I want to try that unincantated magic arrow spell Eva showed me earlier."

This seemed to alarm Ku Fei somewhat. "Wait minute…!" she began, but she didn't get a chance to finish, as Konoka had already pointed her practice wand at her constricted ankles. Five light arrows shot from the heart-shaped end of the wand and struck the metal surrounding the blond girl's feet. The offending material was only slightly budged by the attack, and Konoka had to fire three more volleys before repeating the whole process on Ku's other leg. The martial artist quickly scrambled away from what was left of the debris pile and back to her feet.

"Ah, ha! I did it!" cheered Konoka.

"You did," agreed Ku Fei with a sheepish smile. "But please give more warning next time." The group shared a short chuckle before the obnoxious ring of a cell phone once again interrupted. Asuna checked the caller ID of her phone and, seeing that it was Takamichi, took the call faster than blinking.

"Takahata-sensei! What is it?" Asuna asked, her mood brightening somewhat. "Oh, you have? Oh…oh, all right. Yes, we'll be right there." She switched the phone off. "Takahata-sensei says he and Mana have found something. He wants everyone together to investigate it."

"Never a dull moment, huh?" quipped Setsuna.

"Not with this group," agreed Asuna. "Takahata-sensei said we had to go underneath the… I think it was the forecastle deck, wherever that is."

"It's at the very front of the ship," Yue corrected gently. "Come on, let's go. The sooner we get there the sooner we can get out of this crazy place."

This comment was met with a unanimous air of approval and in the next few moments the six friends had left the half-crushed room behind. When they were far enough away that their footsteps could no longer be heard echoing down the hallways, a figure stepped out from inside the hole Yue had punched in the death trap. If there had been anyone around to see it, they would have beheld the chilling sight of Fate Averruncus carrying the unconscious body of Konoka Konoe over his shoulder.

"Excellent work, Shiori."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsukuyomi whimpered anxiously through her teeth and the blade around which they were clenched. This waiting was killing her! Why, oh, why had Fate-han insisted on capturing princess Konoka secretly? They had enough able fighters on their side to take her by force, so why bother tip-toeing around? It was just so boring! But to go against orders… well, Tsukuyomi was blood-crazed, not suicidal. And besides, there was Fate now and…

Tsukuyomi did a double take. There was Fate-han! And he had the princess! Time really flies when you're miserable!

"Phase one has been completed," announced Fate to his assembled companions. He then proceeded to carry Konoka over to a large, rough-hewn block of stone and place her atop it. Covered in runes from base to relatively flat topside, the object had both the look and feel of a sacrificial altar. After setting his valuable prisoner down, Fate began to position paper talismans over the comatose girl's wrists, ankles, and mouth.

The shorter of Fate's two robed allies approached once this task was finished. In his outstretched hand rested a circular rock, somewhat resembling a clock in appearance. Clear, rectangular crystals were embedded in an incomplete ring around the center of the stone. The ring was broken at the very top, where instead of another crystal was a small slot.

The unnamed mage laid the artifact known as the Activation Stone just above Konoka's head before turning to Fate. A single eye could be seen through the shade of the hood.

"Will everything be done as we discussed?" asked the mage.

"Indeed," answered Fate. "You will remain here to recharge the Stone using the princess' magic. While you do this the rest of us shall go to make certain that the only ones who could interfere are occupied."

"So what are we waiting for?" cheered Tsukuyomi. "Let's go, go, go!"

"Quite," agreed the white-haired boy. "It is best if we don't delay. Negi's old allies might still uncover something that can be used against Aleric's plan and we can't have that, now can we?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was the three-person team of Kaede, Nodoka, and Haruna that reached Takamichi, Mana, and Chachamaru first. This was due to their group's proficiency with trap detection and disarmament rather than overall speed. Nodoka had spent many countless hours roaming the depths of Library Island (also filled with booby traps of all kinds) and Kaede, being a ninja, was well versed in matters of concealment and danger sensing. This, coupled with Haruna's artifact power to summon expendable golems, had allowed them the easiest possible passage through the ruined ship.

As for the remaining six members of the expedition, it took several minutes and four hard tremors before they found their way clear. The combined groups of Yue and Setsuna reunited with their fellows panting and speckled with grease. "Glad to see you all made it in one piece," said Takamichi.

"It wasn't exactly easy," said Setsuna.

Mana decided to throw in her two cents' worth. "Even I have to admit this place is a handful. That 'infinite void' spell was particularly tricky."

"My favorite was the room with no air," quipped Haruna. "You could know all the combat magic in the world, but even a mage needs to breathe."

"All right, all right. Enough with the battle tally," said Asuna. "Takahata-sensei said he found something. Go ahead, Sensei."

"Thank you, Asuna-kun," Takamichi thanked her with a smile. Takamichi then held up a small, gray, and slightly cracked object. Its shape was that of cube, but with a domed top rather than a flat one. "It might not look like much, but as Chachamaru-kun discovered, it's more important than anything we came here hoping to find." The gynoid took this as her cue to step forward, and did so. Two plugs extended from her right forearm as she approached, and they swiftly inserted themselves into the side of the unassuming object.

"This device is actually a holographic database with near-infinite memory and close to total interoperability." Only Takamichi and Nodoka (being someone who reads whatever she can get her hands on) understood what Chachamaru was talking about. The response from everyone else was unanimous.

"Eh?"

"This device is capable of showing pictures from virtually any type of computer," the green-haired robot clarified. "We believe this device and others like it are used by the Shadow Hunters to process and refine information to better suit their purposes. Because this unit is capable of translating data from even the earliest computers, I theorize that the Hunters' main use for it is to keep a record on governments and organizations that are not magically aligned. Unfortunately most of the information in this particular unit has been badly corrupted and is unusable." Chachamaru paused a moment and numbers ran across her eyes. The very tip of the device began to shine in reply. A few images became visible in the air above Takamichi's hand but they were too wobbly and bizarre to describe. "Luckily for us," continued Chachamaru, "there is still one image left that is readable."

"Is none of those, right?" asked Ku Fei, pointing at the snowy images that looked like a cross between purple gelatin and ramen noodles.

"Of course not," Chachamaru assured her somewhat slow-witted friend. When the robotic Ministra stopped speaking again a more coherent picture appeared. It was a globe, or at least had the overall shape of one even if about eighty percent of it was composed of static. The other twenty percent of it displayed mainly the northern Pacific Ocean. "This is it," announced Chachamaru.

"Um, pardon me if I sound cynical," put in Asuna, "but how are we going to get anything useful from a see-through globe that looks like it's been half-eaten?"

Chachamaru raised her free hand and pointed to the hologram. Those who didn't already know what was there followed her finger to a small red dot. It was located near to the bottom of what could be seen on the map and was only a few millimeters above the equator. The mark stood out against its background not for any of these reasons though. No, it stood out because there was a word situated right next to it.

"HQ?" Yue asked, raising both her hopes and her eyebrows.

"Yes," said Takamichi with his determined smile. "Being that the Shadow Hunters have never publicly announced their headquarters before, and because this location has not been marked by us as a known Shadow Hunter base, we can only assume it's their main command center."

"In other words, it's the place where their leader Aleric makes his home," said Mana.

There was silence for a moment as the true enormity of what had been discovered was absorbed by each member of the group. They had uncovered the secret base of the Shadow Hunters! But with that exciting notion came a somewhat disturbing question: where did they go from here? Should they actually go to this place and possibly confront Aleric himself? Memories of what Negi had seen of Aleric's strength quickly flashed through their minds. Attacking a mage as powerful as the Shadow Hunter leader on his ground with his allies surrounding him would be more than dangerous. Of course, then there was also the potential danger of this Project Infinity. Even if they didn't know what it was, they knew many powerful organizations were in on it so they couldn't just ignore it. Takamichi knew this better than anyone present. He hadn't yet told the girls surrounding him that the last name on the Hunters' list of allies, Cosmo Entelecheia, was the same name of the Crimson Wing's mortal enemies.

If he had, perhaps the chain of events that was about to be unleashed would have been different. At least that's what the teacher would tell himself in the years to come.

Setsuna was the first to speak. "Well… I think our next priority should be to get back to Mahora. This is hardly the time or the place to be discussing something like this."

Asuna readily agreed. "Yeah, we should at least get back to boat before we…" Asuna trailed off for a moment. "Huh, that's strange."

"What is it, Asuna-san?" asked Nodoka.

Asuna walked over to one of the walls before answering. "This gap in the metal here." The redhead motioned with her hand. "I can see the Mahora yacht through it. I…?" Asuna cut herself off and changed tones abruptly. "Guys, we have to get down there right now!"

"What is it?" asked Takamichi, already deeply concerned.

"I think something… or some_one_ is trying to make sure we never leave here!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Getting outside proved to be much easier than getting in had been. A single _Kanka_-powered _iaiken_ to the already damaged wall and all twelve explorers were moving towards their only working vehicle with all the speed they could muster.

But from what could be seen it might've already been too late.

The yacht and those of its crew that had come along were being smothered under a blanket of living darkness. It writhed and flopped over the deck like wet cement before hardening into a number of nasty-looking arms with six fingers each. The crew – the captain and the two handymen – were then sealed away inside palm-sized balls made from pure shadow. But even more chilling than that was the tall figure clad in black robes that stood unflinching in the middle of it all. His face was entirely invisible in the shade of his hood; a mask of darkness through which only a pale chin could be seen.

"Who's that?" asked the Konoka that wasn't Konoka.

"Does it matter?" shouted Kotaro. "Whoever he is, he's got to go!" The half-demon reared back to attack but was stopped by Takamichi jumping in ahead of him.

"Wait, Kotaro-kun!" warned the _iaiken_-user. "You can't just charge in without thinking!" The feeling Takamichi was getting from the enemy before them was sickeningly familiar. He might not have been present for the final contest against the Crimson Wing's bitterest foes, but somehow he knew that this was one of them. With such an enemy present you couldn't let your defenses drop, not even for an instant.

What was about to happen would be lasting proof of this.

Setsuna stepped forward, about to make a bold statement but trying not to stray into the shadow-user's attack range while doing it, and was promptly ambushed by an entirely different adversary! The swordswoman was just barely able to block the surprise blow and she considered herself lucky that she was only driven back by the amazingly fast follow-up volley. If it wasn't for the sound of metal smashing into metal she wouldn't have even known her foe was a blade-user as well.

"Setsuna!" cried Asuna. She, Mana, Kaede, and Takamichi were just beginning to react to their friend's plight when the environment changed around them. Suddenly the sky and sea were filled with oddly shaped pillars and, whereas it had been completely overcast before, the sun now popped through the clouds to create an eerie lighting. Of Setsuna, her assailant, and the shipwreck they had just come from, there was no sign. But the group hardly even had nanoseconds to register this information, much less worry about it, when something else happened.

"My, my," said a cold voice. "Letting your guards down? How careless."

Sharpened stones exploded outwards from within the center of the team's formation. Fortunately everyone's wits had been gathered by then and each member was able to avoid injury, either by swiftly dodging or simply by crushing the rock coming at them.

"Yes, that's more like it," came the voice again, causing the group to dart their heads around to try and find the source. "But you'll have to do better still if you want to keep up."

Then Asuna spotted him. Standing only a few meters away was a white-haired boy dressed in a school uniform and staring at her with a pair of the creepiest eyes ever thought of. The sight triggered bad memories of a battle in Kyoto over four years ago.

"You!" cried the redhead, catching all her friends' attention. "You're that pervert kid we fought during the school field trip!"

"Seems you remember my face," said Fate with a frown. "But you don't remember my power. I find that somewhat…" he paused and the next moment he was slamming his foot into Asuna's head, "…upsetting."

Asuna skidded back, her features contorted in pain, but managed to stay upright. Mana, meanwhile, fired three rounds at Fate's exposed back only to be foiled when her target was revealed to be only water that appeared as Fate. Yue and Kaede would have helped, but the shadow mage had reasserted his presence and sent a wall of what looked like black ink at them. The ninja retreated behind her blue-haired friend as she set up a barrier to block it.

"Well, I don't think this could have gone any worse," said Yue. No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the full force of one of Fate's punches sent her sprawling. Kaede hurled a barrage of kunai, shuriken, and letter bombs at her friend's attacker, only for him to block the onslaught with a swipe of his arm and a magical barrier. However, before Fate could follow up on his successful defense, one of Takamichi's _iaiken_ attacks tested it to its limit. The white-haired boy still received no damage, but went several paces backward from the force.

"I'm not sure I've ever seen a magical barrier that strong," said Takamichi, irritation prevalent in his voice.

"How unfortunate," said Fate, then added after a moment, "for you." Suddenly a screeching noise tore through the battlefield, and Takamichi found himself surrounded by a ring of fire.

Long past fully recovered, Asuna shouted, "Takahata-sensei!" and rushed toward him. Her way was blocked when the stone she was walking on exploded, sending rock dust and small pebbles everywhere. The fire surrounding Takamichi went out suddenly, but the bespectacled teacher was no safer, as his defenses seemed to be getting hit with a barrage of _iaiken_-like attacks.

Then a new, somehow chipper voice came to the ears of most present. "Heh, heh! Well, doesn't this rabble seem to be in trouble!" Several of the girls were able to look and see that four girls, each dressed in identical uniforms, and most with animal-like appearances, had arrived.

"We are Fate-sama's Ministra Magi. I am Shirabe," announced the girl with long hair.

"I am Koyomi," said the one with cat ears.

"Tamaki," added the tan girl with bull horns.

"Homura," finished the one with pigtails.

As soon as they ended their introductions Kotaro and Ku Fei tried to make theirs. Changing into his beast-form, Kotaro made a powerful swipe at the four girls and sent them flying into a well-placed _Ki_-beam from Ku. All four landed hard on the water. Believing they had dealt with weak adversaries, Kotaro stated, "Sorry. I don't typically hit girls, but in this instance it…" That's as far as he got when a blast of air nailed him on top of the head. Ku was struck a second later in the stomach. _ "What the…?"_ thought Kotaro. He looked up and to the side, and he saw the four girls standing, totally unharmed, atop one of the floating pillars over the water. The Shirabe girl held a fiddle in her hands.

"That won't be enough," called Koyomi over the distance.

Ku Fei looked to where she had seen Fate's Ministra fall. There wasn't a sign of anything having disturbed the water's surface. "Illusions," said Ku, aggravated. "This beginning to look very bad."

Apparently Shirabe possessed acute hearing because she had an answer for this. "Just now?" she shouted. "We must be losing our touch!" Shirabe then moved her bow across the strings of her fiddle and the same shrieking noise from earlier filled the air.

Haruna, who had taken the liberty of defending Nodoka and the reasonable facsimile of Konoka, covered her ears at the noise. "Oy, she sucks!" complained the manga artist. Then one of the golems she had conjured for protection split in half. The reason for this was a sound wave attack, a sound wave generated by Shirabe's fiddle.

"Hm, so that's what's been going on," said Mana. "Her attacks are quite similar to Takahata-sensei's _iaiken_."

"We're just getting started," sneered Homura. The Ministra then looked directly at Asuna, and everything around the redhead went up in a blaze. Asuna swung her broadsword around in a circle to escape, and came out coughing slightly.

"Are you all right, Asuna-san?" asked Nodoka.

"I'm a little charred, but I'll be fine," Asuna said.

"I think cooked is a little better than mashed like a potato!" yelled Koyomi. Before anyone could question the meaning of this statement, they heard the last verse of a Greek chant.

"**Stone Pillars of Hades!"**

The sunlight was almost entirely blocked out, as enormous black stone pillars appeared directly above the small islet where the two groups did battle. Fate hovered above everything as he sent his attack directly downwards at his targets. Asuna and Takamichi tried to destroy the pillars before they hit, but the redhead was suddenly attacked by the shadow user, and the _iaiken_-master was blocked by Shirabe's fiddle work. The next instant the pillars smashed into the ground and sea, sending foam and bits of fragmented earth everywhere.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Setsuna had finally managed to stop her attacker for a moment. She'd had to reveal both her artifact and wings to do it but now she had time to figure out just what the hell had happened and who she was fighting. She was already keenly aware that she was battling another Shinmeiryuu swordswoman, but that damn hat she was wearing kept the half-demon from seeing her face. So now Setsuna stood in battle ready stance, the blade she'd inherited from Eishun Konoe – _Yunagi_ - clutched firmly in her hands, and surrounded by sixteen copies of her artifact waiting for her enemy to emerge from the dust cloud created in that last scuffle.

The first things that could be seen were the over-sized hat and scarf, the latter fluttering in the same breeze carrying the cloud away. Next were the two polished weapons—first the longer, then the shorter, their glints giving them away. Then at last the woman's entire form came into focus. From what Setsuna could see, she appeared to be trembling with excitement.

"He, he, he," giggled the enemy swordswoman. "Setsuna-sempai! You haven't gone soft on me, now, have you? Or even worse, perhaps you don't know who I am!" She then reached up with her left hand, the thumb, index, and middle fingers grasping her hat. She tore the headgear off with a flourish, revealing her long blond hair and oval glasses. Setsuna felt a surge of familiarity and then memory made her enemy's name all too clear.

"Tsukuyomi!" Setsuna said, horrified.

"Oh, goody!" said Tsukuyomi, grinning. "My sempai hasn't forgotten me!" The girl then began to breathe heavily, accompanied by an enormous blush on her face. Setsuna couldn't help but think how lusty the girl looked from where she was standing. Tsukuyomi huffed, "Sempai… I'd almost forgotten how much fun dueling with you is. Please…" The girl paused to gasp a little. ("_I think she's going to have an accident!"_ thought Setsuna.) "Please, you must satisfy me! If you don't, why… I just might have to take my frustration out on Konoka Ojou-Sama!"

"Like hell!" hissed Setsuna. The threat directed at her charge had caused the half-demon to entirely forget how creeped-out she was by this adversary. "I will gladly defeat you if that's what it takes to keep Ojou-Sama safe!" She began to funnel her _Ki_ into her artifact, causing the short swords to fluoresce with lights and electricity. Tsukuyomi charged her blades similarly, and the two swordswomen leaped at one another. Setsuna sent her artifact swords ahead, but Tsukuyomi knocked them away with an expert midair spin.

"He, he, he!" giggled Tsukuyomi as she dodged the powerful swipe of Setsuna's main blade. Setsuna didn't let up for a minute, hurling _Ki_ bullets at her foe. "Heh, heh, heh!" continued the blond girl as she deflected one bullet and blocked another one head-on. Setsuna charged again, this time her sword crashing into and locking with the longer of Tsukuyomi's. "HA, HA, HA, HA!"

XXXXXXXXXX

Someone was about to die.

Asuna knew it with an almost overpowering certainty.

Someone she knew was going to leave her.

But how? And why? She and Mana had just broken that shadow guy's defense and Takahata-sensei had blasted him through one of the pillars and into the water. Their team was making a comeback now! How could one of her friends…

"_Oh, no." _

Asuna turned around to where Kaede, Chachamaru, Haruna, and Yue were meant to be delaying Fate with a holding action. The white-haired mage had used a puddle to teleport past the golem Haruna was using for protection. What happened next was terrible to behold but Asuna couldn't tear her eyes away.

"**Pass Through the Wall! Spear of Stone!"**

Haruna was strangely silent as the rock sliced into her stomach. Her expression had undertones of horror and pain, but it was mainly incomprehension that dominated. When the attack erupted through her back in a spray of red the manga artist finally realized what had happened, gave a strangled gag, and vomited blood.

"HARUNA!"

"PARU!"

"NOOO!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Holy cow! This was my longest chapter ever! My only concern at this point is that I may have overdone it a bit. But then I always doubt what I write so it's really up to you, the readers!

I am, again, sorry for the delay but as I mentioned to Murraymints at the top I got hooked on Code Geass for a while and it took some time to get my head back into Negima.

I'll try to make chapter 20 come a little faster. See you all next time!


	20. Lost Time

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

Sweet Heavens: That's correct. I killed Haruna. Her tearful goodbye is below.

HikariNoTenshi-San: You're right, Fate _did_ tell Negi he would not leave lasting harm to any of the girls… if it was possible. Was it possible? We're about to find out. And the only pairing I've got right now is Negi/Rebecca. The next step in that relationship will occur shortly.

Kurush Wuzurg: Fate's true morality is something I question. There are times when he is entirely ruthless and other times when he goes out of his way not to hurt anyone. Consider the Kyoto battle and his differing approaches to dealing with Eishun Konoe and Evangeline. Fate knew who Eishun was and that he would be a problem before he attacked. But rather than take revenge for standing against his organization twenty years ago, Fate merely left him temporarily petrified. This is in contrast to Eva, whose identity he did not confirm until after he had attacked and this was with a stone spear through the stomach! I think what it comes down to is whether or not the person's death will help or hinder his ongoing mission.

Murraymints999: I thank you for all the kind words! And I love long reviews so keep doing that! Now I have a question for you as a fellow fan of both Negima and Code Geass. My warped imagination keeps drawing parallels between the characters from the two series: Shirley and Nina look like Asuna and Satomi respectively, Milly is like a fusion of Ayaka, Konoka, and Kazumi, C.C. combines elements of Eva and Chachamaru, Kallen mimics Setsuna in the areas of dual-heritage, fighting ability, and embarrassing situations, and Lelouch somewhat resembles Fate in appearance and dialogue. Can you see these similarities too or am I losing my mind?

Masterolex: And I was starting to doubt you'd review again! Luckily it seems we were both wrong. And thanks for the praise!

XXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XX

Lost Time

Tea time at Albireo Imma's home always held the promise of being an interesting experience. Given that his current dwelling was located almost a quarter-mile underground, surrounded on all sides by giant trees and a circular waterfall, illuminated with pure, white light, and sported several balconies that were held up exclusively by magic, this was only to be expected. However, all the impressive scenery was meaningless in the face of Konoemon, Evangeline, (his current visitors) and the grave news they had come to deliver.

"So…" began Albireo, blowing on his tea as he did so, "Negi-kun's new friends are throwing in with the remnants of Cosmo Entelecheia, are they?"

"It seems that way," said Eva. "Their name was on the list of Hunter conspirators that Chisame girl was clever enough to find."

"In addition to that," started Konoemon, "there were names of influential Magic Associations from four different continents on that list. It seems the Shadow Hunters have invested a great deal of effort into corrupting the magicians of this world." At that the old man's eyes turned downward to look at his own sad expression reflected in his tea. "I would have hoped that others in my station would not have been so easily swayed with promises of power and prestige or whatever it is that Aleric is offering."

Eva let out a dark chuckle. "In the end, mages are still just human beings. It's relatively simple to confuse their minds and corrupt their hearts." The diminutive blond paused to take a sip of her own drink. "It certainly keeps things interesting, though. After all, evil mages like myself would be out of business if it were otherwise."

"Actually," said Albireo, "it seems to me that you're not so much of an evil mage these days. You seem to have been doing quite a lot to help us out in recent times." Eva opened her mouth to protest, but the former Crimson Wing member just kept talking. "In fact, I daresay that Negi-kun's conversion worries you more than it does me."

Now a slight blush showed on Eva's pale cheeks, and her left eyebrow twitched a bit. "What are you talking about?" she spat.

"I'm saying that Negi-kun must have made quite an impact here if even the famed Dark Evangel is fussing over him like a concerned parent."

Now Eva was blushing in force. "Shut your mouth, you perverted eggplant!"

"Ahem!" coughed Konoemon. "If you two are quite done, we should get back to business." The headmaster waited a moment for this to sink in before talking again. "Now then… Albireo-san, the reason Evangeline and I came here today was to inform you of your old enemy's movements, and to ask your opinion of this situation."

Albireo 'hmmed'. "Well, as you are no doubt aware, the goal of Cosmo Entelecheia was to bring about the destruction of the Magic World. In order to accomplish this, they instigated the Schismatic War and attempted to unleash the magic of creation and apocalypse. During this affair they manipulated a countless number of lesser villains and used their greed to their own advantage. It may be that the Shadow Hunters are just tools for Cosmo Entelecheia's survivors."

"It's possible," conceded Konoemon. "Though the information we received points to Aleric being the originator of this scheme."

"Well, in any case, it is a disturbing turn of events," said Albireo. The long-haired mage looked down before continuing. "But what's most disturbing of all is that Aleric actually fought with Nagi, and then Nagi agreed to let Aleric train his son. I don't know what's going on there at all."

"Well, Nagi never was very bright," said Eva. "It could be that he felt that as long as the person teaching him was strong enough, it didn't matter what kind of values he held."

"No, no, no," said Albireo. "That's not Nagi's personality at all. I don't think it's possible that Aleric successfully deceived Nagi about his true nature, either. Nagi was always very astute in picking up liars."

"So that either means," surmised Konoemon, "that Aleric is a much better liar than the norm, or there's something else behind all this."

"Yes, well, it doesn't do us much good to sit around and speculate," said Albireo. "With all these Old World mage groups on the Hunters' side already and the leftover bits of Cosmo Entelecheia involved, I'd say the most prudent course of action is to alert the home country as quickly as possible."

Konoemon sighed. "If only it were that easy."

"You think we would have come here without trying that first?" drawled Eva with a vaguely irritated expression. "Sorry to disappoint, but when the old man here checked to see if the communication lines to the Magic World were safe, we discovered that a good portion of the security force that protects the gate to the Magic World is actually made up of Shadow Hunters." Eva changed her expression into her savage smile before she continued. "So therefore if we try to alert anybody in the Magic World to this little plot, the Hunters will not only be able to easily find out about it, but it will be child's play for them to stop it as well."

"Not to mention the danger posed to the school itself," added Konoemon. "I'm certain Aleric has not gotten as far as this by letting potential informants go free. If they know that we know, it's very possible that Mahora Academy and our students will be put in great jeopardy."

"I see," said Albireo. "This is certainly a delicate situation then. One of us could try to deliver the message personally, but we're not exactly the type of people who can move around unnoticed easily." The Minister Magi tapped his fingers against his shoulder in thought. "Has Eishun been notified of this?"

"I sent a private letter to him a few hours ago, so he should be finding out about this about now," answered the school dean. "And speaking of people being notified, one of the reasons I came here was to ask if there was any way you could think of that we might be able to alert Thousand Blades Rakan as well."

"_Oh, geez," _thought Albireo. "Why call him up for this? It hasn't reached the all-out war stage yet, so what's a champion fighter like him supposed to do?"

"It would help if we had a reliable contact in the Magic World as well," said Eva. "And anyway, as long as he stays there, the amount of irritation he'll cause us will be limited."

"True enough," said Albireo. Once he had finished saying this, a timer went off on one of the adjacent tables. "Ah, I see our time is up."

"Yes, so I'll have to go back to the office," said Konoemon. He turned his somewhat misshapen head to one side to look at Eva. "Eva-chan, do you think you could stay here and help Albireo try to find a way that he could leave the school grounds?"

"I could, but it'll cost you."

"I thought it might. Anyway, let's go ahead and get moving. Takamichi is leading Negi-kun's former students into an abandoned Shadow Hunter hideout and I want to be there the minute their first report comes in. The last thing we need is somebody getting hurt."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Fate stood in a sprinter-like position with his right arm held out and up, idly noting the tiny pebbles that his attack had thrust up in the air. After a moment he remembered that one of Negi's Provisional Contractors had been skewered by that same attack and so thought to himself, _"Oh dear, I overdid it."_

Not that the white-haired boy was typically one to lose sight of his goals in the heat of combat, mind you. Normally Fate was the perfect example of a cold-hearted warrior; a soldier who always remained focused on his job even if the world was collapsing around him. However, the fight with Negi's former companions was proving far more difficult and entertaining than he had anticipated. One of the great drawbacks of being ultra-powerful was not being able to use your strongest abilities very frequently. Thus, when a skilled opponent presents himself, it will get you excited.

"BASTARD!"

Of course, a screaming maniac redhead running at you with a gigantic blade will tend to do that as well.

Fate quickly considered his options. His magical barrier, while arguably one of the strongest defense mechanisms in existence, was vulnerable to the Magic Cancel power of the Twilight Imperial Princess. Not only that, but Fate sensed a change in the atmospheric pressure that heralded one of Takamichi's _iaiken _blasts and saw that both the sniper Mana and the ninja Kaede had fully reversed their fields and were preparing to attack him as well. With all this in mind, a tactical retreat seemed like the best option. _"I just hope they'll be willing to listen to reason,"_ he thought as he sank beneath the puddle around his feet. _"Negi-kun will be most angry if that girl dies."_

Asuna uttered curses that would make a sailor blush as her target vanished from view before she could split him in half. The most she was able to accomplish in her maddened state was to splatter the puddle Fate had used to escape and to split the rock beneath it. For a moment she stood still, doing nothing but breathing heavily and listening to the pounding of the blood in her ears. So thick was the fog of rage around her brain that at first she heard the voices of the people around her as if they were far away.

"Haruna!" called Yue and Nodoka mournfully, racing to their friend's side. The uninjured members of the Library Exploration Club had tears in their eyes as they confirmed, beyond any doubt or false hope, that Haruna really was on the end of that spear. The others were beginning to gather around the impaled manga artist now as well. Ku Fei seized the spear just in front of the entrance wound with one hand, and then used the other to break the offending rock in half. Kotaro and Chachamaru caught Haruna from both sides before she could collapse and then gently lowered her to her knees. Takamichi, Mana, and Kaede stood in a triangle around the others, keeping a sharp lookout for their enemies, but it was clear by the frequent backward glances that even they were distracted by their comrade's plight.

"Listen, Ku Fei-san," said Yue, trying to focus on how the blond girl was holding the broken end of Fate's weapon while blinking the tears away. "Make sure that spear doesn't move an inch until we're ready to heal Haruna or it'll cause even more internal damage."

"I know," said Ku, a hint of irritation coming through her mask of worry and seriousness. "I not completely stupid."

But Yue didn't have the luxury of sounding polite or even listening to everything that was said. With the life of one of her best friends on the line it was hard to maintain her usual habit of analyzing everything. This was reinforced by Haruna breaking out into a series of deep-throated coughs. Enough blood had accumulated in her airway so that she had started choking and now large trails of red were running down from her mouth and dripping off her chin.

"P-Paru!" said Nodoka, taking her friend's paling hand. "Hang in there!"

"Haruna-san!" cried Konoka, reaching into her sleeve for her artifact card. "Don't worry! I'll…" The brown-haired girl froze suddenly. Her eyes grew wide and her breathing shallow. Then a queer look overcame her features and the feeling in the air around her became cold. "Ah, well, it looks like my time here is up." It was Konoka's voice and Konoka's lips moving but Konoemon Konoe's granddaughter had never spoken like that in all the time her friends had known her. "Sorry to leave you guys in the lurch but…" with a burst of light and smoke Konoka was gone, replaced with the Ministra Magi Shiori, "… it seems Fate-sama's called me back."

And before anyone could even blink Shiori was surrounded by a fluorescent circle and vanished. A full three seconds passed. Only Haruna's wet, ragged gasps and the waves of the ocean around them could be heard. Then Fate Averruncus's voice, amplified by magic to thunderous proportions, blasted through the air.

"WARRIORS AND MAGIC-USERS OF MAHORA! YOU HAVE FOUGHT VALIANTLY AND WELL. MORE THAN WORTHY OF OUR RESPECT AND ADMIRATION."

"Shit," hissed Mana, realizing what this was: a request for unconditional surrender.

"BUT NOW ONE OF YOUR OWN IS MORTALLY WOUNDED, AND YOUR BEST HEALER IS OUR PRISONER. WITH THE DEGREE OF YOUR COMRADE'S INJURIES COMBINED WITH WHATEVER HEALING YOU CAN PROVIDE HER, I WOULD GIVE HER ANOTHER HOUR TO LIVE, TOPS."

"Goddammit, how could this have happened?" Kotaro growled.

"HOWEVER, I AM WILLING TO RETURN THE PRINCESS TO YOU AND ALLOW HER TO HEAL YOUR FRIEND, AS WELL AS GUARANTEE ALL OF YOU SAFE PASSAGE OUT OF HERE. ALL I ASK FOR IN RETURN IS YOUR ADMISSION OF DEFEAT ON THIS ENCOUNTER. YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO REPLY."

The oppressive silence returned. After a moment, Kaede broke it. "Well," she started with a half-sigh, "looks like Evangeline-dono was right about us. We really weren't ready for this."

"Beaten so easily!" cursed Mana. "How the hell could I not notice that disguise?"

"Hey, hey, what are you guys talking about?" demanded Asuna, ripping her sword out of the earth. "We're not beaten yet! We can't just surrender to the snobby little brat!"

"Asuna," said Takamichi slowly, "we can't fight them like this."

"But, but," Asuna stuttered.

"They're right, Asuna," said Yue. "As much as I hate to admit it, Fate is right. I haven't practiced healing spells nearly as much as everything else, and Haruna's injuries are too severe." The blue-haired librarian met Asuna's gaze and then hardened her own. "We don't have a choice right now!"

"Guys… no, wait."

The weak protest drew attention to the injured party's eyes rather than her stomach. Haruna had lifted her head slightly and was struggling to talk despite lack of air and the accumulation of blood in her mouth. "S-something's wrong…"

"Don't try to talk!" said Nodoka.

"Haruna-san," said Chachamaru. "That spear might have missed your spinal column, but it has essentially turned your right kidney into a piece of hamburger, as well as severely damaged your liver. If you don't receive proper medical attention, you will…"

"No, not that." Haruna was biting off her words now. "The sky…it's cracking…"

For a moment it seemed as though their friend had begun to hallucinate but then Ku Fei saw it too. "Is over there!" cried Ku, pointing with her free hand. Now everybody else saw them as well: large, crooked lines of black spreading across the clouds and their blue background like a spider-web.

"_Now what?"_ thought Takamichi. _"I knew we were trapped inside a barrier space but why is it breaking down now? Do they really think we're no threat at all anymore? Or… did something else happen? Maybe Setsuna…?"_ Unfortunately the teacher didn't have time to ponder any longer as the sky was totally encompassed by the cracks and shattered into a million little pieces.

XXXXXXXXXXX

_Five minutes ago…_

Sparks flew in all directions as Setsuna and Tsukuyomi's duel gained momentum. Large slash marks now scarred much of the ground, the air was full of mists from _Ki_ attacks hitting the water, and even the old shipwreck had been sliced in two. And still neither one appeared to be gaining the upper hand. But appearances deceive…

"Urgh!" Setsuna grunted as she barely brought her blade up in time to block Tsukuyomi's latest strike. Much to the half-demon's dismay, Tsukuyomi had proven to have marginally higher _Ki_ levels than herself. In addition to that she was absolutely ruthless in her attack pattern. She never let even the slightest opening go by without trying to attack. In fact, the only reason Setsuna was still in the game was due to her greater experience and a slight advantage in height and reach.

"_I suppose this means that in terms of raw talent, Tsukuyomi surpasses me entirely," _thought Setsuna with some despair. _"To think that she was this strong when we fought in Kyoto!"_

Tsukuyomi giggled (but then she had been giggling since the match started, so what's so unusual about that?) "Very good!" she complimented. "Exactly what I expect from my sempai! However…" Tsukuyomi paused to whip out a small rectangular piece of paper. She then pointed it directly at Setsuna.

"_An Ofuda tag!"_ realized Setsuna, moving to bring up her artifact weapon. Unfortunately, before she could complete the process, the tag activated, sending a small, cartoon-looking monster straight at her. Despite its unassuming face Setsuna expected it to strike her a fatal blow as it was already past her defense. But to her surprise and embarrassment all it did was rip her shirt off, leaving her breast bindings exposed. "Wha…?" she started.

The next instant Setsuna was pinned underneath Tsukuyomi and the smaller of her two blades was at her throat. "However, even with all your experience and determination, you're still lacking something," said the smiling blonde.

"_Blast it!"_ Setsuna cursed to no one. Now her only hope was that Tsukuyomi wouldn't move to kill her until she could remotely maneuver her artifact – the _Sica Shishikushiro_, which had flown out of her hand when she was tackled – into a position where she could use it to counterattack. In the meantime all she could do was listen to Tsukuyomi's cheerfully creepy banter.

"Perhaps you lost that special something when Springfield-san was taken away from you? Or maybe you never had it to begin with. But I think that when we first met you would never have let having your shirt ripped off slow you down." Tsukuyomi's leer became entirely devious. "Are you more embarrassed to let your chest show because there's more there than there was then? Of course, it's hard to tell with those bindings there. Let's take a look!" Then Tsukuyomi neatly sliced through the wrappings and let them fall away. Setsuna didn't know which was worse, the feel of cold metal against her vulnerable flesh or the evil gleam she saw in her captor's eyes when she got a look at her completely exposed chest.

Fortunately that's as far as Tsukuyomi's bizarre torture got. At last the _Sica Shishikushiro_ was close enough and Setsuna beckoned it to stab right into the back of the blonde swordswoman's neck. Tsukuyomi sensed the danger at the last second and retreated so fast that she left her scarf behind, which was swiftly nailed to the ground by the oncoming blade. Setsuna got back up, subconsciously moving one arm over her breasts as she did so.

"Heh, heh, now that's better," said Tsukuyomi. "This would all be so boring if it were over so quickly!"

"My sentiments exactly!"

Both swordswomen jumped at the intruding voice. Each one spun around, Setsuna to her left and Tsukuyomi to her right, to find the new arrival standing only a few meters away. She had black hair speckled with brown and was wearing an outfit that could be considered ancient Roman in appearance. She might have been beautiful if it wasn't for the crazy expression she was wearing. She looked almost like a predator about to start dining on a kill it had just made. "Yes, yes, it's so boring when conflicts end too soon, and with not enough anguish! But perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Tredecim, and I will be ruining your day!"

Setsuna's eyes narrowed while Tsukuyomi's eyes widened.

"_Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse/Just when things were going so well," _thought the two swordswomen together, _"this nut job shows up!"_

"You, blondie," said Tredecim. "You're the knife-wielder that Fate got to follow him around, right?"

"I suppose if you want to think of it that way," said Tsukuyomi. "But you said your name is Tredecim, right? Fate-han told me a story about a former companion of his called Tredecim. Are you…?"

"Yes, I am," answered Tredecim with a grin. "I was once a member of Cosmo Entelecheia the same as you are now."

"Aha," muttered Tsukuyomi, falling back into a defensive stance. "Well, Fate-han said that you deserted him sometime before a big fight and that I should tell him right away if I ever saw you. So… goodbye!" And just like that Tsukuyomi was gone in a swirl of sakura petals.

This left Setsuna alone, half-naked and facing an unknown enemy whose very presence was enough to scare Tsukuyomi off. It was a bad situation in a number of ways. _"Focus, Setsuna, focus,"_ the remaining swordswoman coaxed herself. _"The number one priority right now is to get back to Ojou-sama and the others. I should probably try to talk my way out of this before…"_ Much to Setsuna's misfortune, this train of thought distracted her slightly and left Tredecim a small opening. She did not notice the minute rise in Tredecim's magical signature, signaling an incoming explosion spell. And when said explosion spell detonated, cratering the already damaged ground and knocking Setsuna totally senseless, she noticed very little, if anything at all.

Tredecim sighed. "Ah, the young ones are always so much fun. But should I kill her now since I have the opportunity?" Tredecim pondered this for a moment. "Nah!" she decided. "Best for me to kill them off one at a time and savor their grief! Now then…" she turned around to look at the one section of the island that had gone untouched by the carnage, "time to take revenge on that Springfield kid who's been messing with my subordinates, and screw Fate to the wall while I'm at it!" Tredecim then raised her arms and thrust them out in front of her. Her hands seemed to collide with an invisible barrier as they came over the undamaged area. This, she knew, was the barrier dimension Fate had had his Ministra create. Focusing her millennia-old magic, she forced a probing spell into the artificial world. She detected eighteen people within, and best of all, one of them was fading already. That made things almost too easy. Excited by this discovery, Tredecim focused her attention on destroying the space. She felt some moderate resistance from two of the occupants, most likely the ones who had created the dimension in the first place, but they were really no match for her abilities. The space began to come undone, and within moments a spherical system of cracks began to extend outward from her fingertips.

Setsuna, barely conscious and in pain, managed to turn her head to look at Tredecim. She had felt something when that attack had hit her, and it wasn't the impact tremor. There was something different about her magic. It felt _older_, for lack of a better term. It was sort of like what Eva's magic felt like, but not to this degree. _"Who or what is she?"_ Setsuna thought blearily. The last thing she saw before everything went black around her was the empty dome of cracks shattering and many more figures standing where once there had been nothing.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

_Three minutes ago…_

"So what do you think they'll do?" asked Homura. The pigtailed Ministra was standing atop a large stone pillar in the middle of a vast expanse of seawater and clouds. Off to her left were Shirabe and Shiori, the latter only moments ago recalled from her mission. Behind her stood Koyomi and Tamaki. Both had removed their cloaks and wore expressions of concentration as they maintained the barrier space and performed surveillance. In front of her were Fate and the black-cloaked mage who had supported him on the front lines. The white-haired mage had just made his declaration of victory.

"Hard to say," said Fate, answering Homura's question. "They certainly are a stubborn group. Still, with surrender being their best option, I think they'll comply."

"How much longer until the Activation Stone is fully charged?" asked Shirabe.

"About four minutes," answered the shadow mage. "But it's a good thing we have them cornered already. They certainly are talented fighters. The only thing most of them lack is experience. With Takamichi here things are certainly a lot harder than we were expecting."

"Takamichi's presence here is a burden," agreed Fate. "If they choose not to surrender, I might end up using my Eternal Petrification spell." While the words were dangerous, Fate's tone implied that he didn't think it would come to that.

Just then Tamaki and Koyomi jumped. "Ah, Fate-sama," said Tamaki, turning her horned head. "There could be a problem. Tsukuyomi is requesting entrance."

Fate's expression darkened at this news. "If she's ending that fight early, there must be something wrong. Let her in." Tamaki nodded, and a few seconds later Tsukuyomi landed in the middle of her allies.

"Fate-han, we have trouble," said Tsukuyomi, looking as serious as was possible for her. "You remember that Tredecim lady you told me about? Well, she's outside, and she said something about ruining everyone's day."

"Tredecim?" said Fate, his body stiffening. "Tredecim is here?"

"Well, that's what she said her name was," confirmed the swordswoman.

It was as though someone had flipped a switch. The faceless shadow user, whose body language was conveying anger, noiselessly moved his arms downward, and in response the shadows rose up behind him. They all merged together to form a gigantic beast that stood at attention, ready for its master's command to fight. Fate, meanwhile, telepathically contacted his other cloaked ally, who was currently transferring the true Konoka's magic into the Activation Stone. Unfortunately he didn't have time to relay anything more than the bare warning before Koyomi and Tamaki called out.

"Ah, Fate-sama! Someone's trying to bring down the barrier space!" Both girls grit their teeth and attempted to force Tredecim's will back, but it was no good. Almost everything around began to crack and fracture as though the entire scene was nothing more than a stained glass window.

"Tredecim," muttered Fate. "For you to show up now… it must mean you don't like the alliance between us and the Hunters. You always did love screwing things up a little too much for me to trust you fully."

Then the barrier dimension broke apart altogether, and Fate and his companions were standing face-to-face not only with Tredecim, but with the group from Mahora as well, dying Haruna and all.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

For a moment there was silence. Tredecim quickly scanned the two opposing groups with her interested jet-black eyes. They were both somewhat disorganized at the moment, and stress was the general order of the day. But Tredecim's old companions seemed more vengeful. _"Boy, you lie a little bit and perform one act of desertion and you're labeled for life!"_ she thought.

The group from Mahora, however, was edgy because of fear and battle fatigue. And one of their own was bleeding like a stuck pig, but Tredecim didn't really see the big deal with that one.

On the other side of the spectrum, Takamichi's eyes widened when they beheld the enemy deserter. _"It's her?"_ thought Takamichi in alarm. _"But I thought that she…"_

"Tredecim," said Fate in a voice that could chill dry ice.

"Fate," replied the woman. Her tone made one think of a sunny morning in the Arctic; bright and cheery, but no real warmth or life to be found.

"You have a lot of nerve showing yourself to us like this." It was the Shadow Mage who was speaking now. "But you had the nerve to ditch us twenty-four years ago, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

"You're right," said Tredecim. "You shouldn't be. Nor should you be surprised that I've held on to this." She held up her hand and a horrible green light encased it. It turned slightly yellowish, and then slightly brownish.

The people who didn't know what it was couldn't help but think how much it looked like vomit.

Those who did know what it was couldn't help but think how much it looked like the specter of doom.

"Fate-sama," started Homura, her voice betraying unease, "is that…?"

"I'm afraid it is," said Fate. "You all remember what we practiced, don't you?" He was addressing all his Ministra now, but didn't dare take his eyes off Tredecim to see if they understood his meaning.

Tredecim chuckled. "Your girlfriends needn't look so worried, Fate. It's not any of them I'm targeting with this little number." Her smile morphed from playful to predatory. "So they should be able to dodge it if they try." Then Tredecim's hand came down like a lightning bolt, casting off the green nimbus that surrounded it. The light struck the ground and immediately became like liquid. Then it began to expand, encircling Tredecim entirely, looking like some obscene offspring of an octopus and industrial-park slime.

The group from Mahora was both amazed and disgusted, especially Yue. In all her studies into magic, she had never heard of a spell that produced this effect. _"What in the hell is that?"_

Then the magically-generated goo exploded outward in every direction. The two teams, who had only minutes before been focused entirely on each other, forget about one another entirely. Fate and the shadow mage moved to defend the others in their group. The giant shadow golem moved one of its massive arms across to act as a barrier, and sharpened pillars of rock erupted from the ground before it, courtesy of Fate. Tsukuyomi, Homura, and Shirabe each stood in defensive positions behind the barricade as Tamaki used her artifact to create a platform on which the girls could retreat. Under any other circumstances the six of them would have stayed to support their more experienced superiors, but if Tredecim was the opponent—well, they really had no choice. Tredecim was completely ruthless above and beyond the call, and since she was using that spell, or rather that curse, it was very likely someone was about to perish. All they could really do now was make sure it wasn't one of their own.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

As far back as she could remember, the girl known as Haruna Saotome had always loved stories. Novels, manga, folktales, horror stories, idle gossip, you name it. But by far her favorite stories were the romantic ones. Not necessarily love stories, but something that was slightly over the top was usually what she was after. Perhaps that was why she fit so well into the former Class 3A. A loonier bunch you couldn't hope to find in public school. But even among that group, Haruna was considered by some to be somewhat creepy. For example, during the 78th Mahora Festival she happily told ten-year-old Negi about love triangle stories and how they often end in double suicides. She had always had part of her head lost in a book. Perhaps that was why it took the current situation, horribly injured and under attack, to open her eyes to a very simple truth that most people grasp by the time they're seven.

Dying sucks.

The black-haired manga artist had already begun to lose the feeling in her limbs and face when Tredecim showed up. Now she watched with blurring vision as the green mass rushed at her and her friends.

"_That super golem I drew before we came here would be really handy about now,"_ Haruna thought hazily. Suddenly she registered the sensation of being moved. Chachamaru and Ku, the latter still holding the stone Haruna was impaled on, were trying to carry her away from the battlefield. At the same time Asuna was attempting to stop Tredecim's attack with her _Magic Cancel_ power. Unfortunately it wasn't having nearly as much of an effect as it usually did.

"What the hell is this stuff?" cried Asuna as she saw that the beams coming from her sword were having no visible effect on the oncoming wave.

"I'm not certain, Asuna-kun," said Takamichi. "But I don't think you should let it hit you. Move back!"

"Hey, hey," said Tredecim, her voice somewhat distorted by her own attack. "Maybe you should worry about yourself instead of fussing over her." At that moment, the expanding front of the gelatin-like sphere transformed into a thousand writhing tentacles, all connected to a center ball that held Tredecim. Three of the tentacles rocketed toward Takamichi. The teacher matched each of them with an invisible _iaiken_ blast, but he already suspected they would have no effect. True enough, the only thing that happened was a ripple effect that ran down their length. Just before impact, Mana, who had appeared on Takamichi's right, activated a teleportation talisman that whisked both of them a hundred meters backwards.

All this Haruna attempted to track with only her central vision, her peripheral vision having lapsed into a motion-sensitive abyss of smeared colors. It was one of those unfortunate coincidences that in this obscured visual perception Chachamaru's hair looked exactly like Tredecim's attack. Haruna might still have saved herself if not for that. A single green tentacle had separated itself from the others and was coming down from above, whereas all the others were advancing from the front and the sides so as to distract everyone else from the silently approaching menace. The singular strand of goo hardened itself into a long thin lance and then plunged down.

Kaede was the first to spot it, but was far too late to do anything about it. She called out to Kotaro. "Kotaro-dono! Block the one coming from above!"

The dog-user didn't have time to answer with words, but instead merely jumped skywards. A single swipe of his _Ki_-powered fist and the offending object shattered. For a moment it looked as though the danger had been averted, and for any other kind of attack it would have been. But Tredecim's curse was not so easily avoided. The fragmented bits of the pike fell down through the air for a moment before springing to life again, and once more making a beeline for Haruna. Chachamaru attempted to block the broken projectiles with her own body and Ku Fei sent out a _Ki_ beam from her free hand but only managed to stop half the fragments. The other half sank their sharpened edges into Haruna's leg.

Instantly Haruna knew something had changed. For a moment she could see clearly again, but somehow felt her pulse become more strained. However, the most noticeable change was the acceptance of an idea in her heart that she had been trying previously to deny.

"_I'm not going to make it." _

Haruna was still very much afraid of dying and in a way this knowledge only increased that fear. But, strangely, that's not all it did. She actually started remembering little details about her closest friends that she had forgotten years ago. _"Oh, great,"_ thought some distant part of Haruna's mind. _"My life's flashing before my eyes. What kind of second-rate character death scene is this?"_ She then faintly felt a stinging pain right about where that rock should have been embedded in her, but at the moment she was hard-pressed to feel anything. In actuality, that stinging was Yue desperately trying to use healing magic to stop the bleeding.

"_It's not working!" _Yue screamed at herself. _"Why isn't anything working? I know I'm not as good as Konoka, but…"_

Tredecim's voice broke through the air with great peals of mirth. "It's not going to work!" she taunted from her secure position above the battlefield. "This magic I'm using is a curse especially designed to prevent healing spells from working." Tredecim pointed straight at Haruna. "In other words, that girl was dead the moment my curse touched her!"

Suddenly the bubble that surrounded Tredecim shook from the impact of a hundred _iaiken_ blasts, most of them enhanced by _Kanka_. When this barrage was finished, Mana and Kaede unleashed a joint attack of anti-magic bullets and exploding kunai that finally tore an opening in their target's defense. The opening was then set upon by Asuna and Kotaro, both of whom were going straight for Tredecim's head. The Cosmo Entelecheia deserter was forced to abandon the magic she had been using until then to dodge what otherwise would have been a decapitating double assault. Whatever was left of the green blob vanished as its master flew away.

"That's it," purred Tredecim as she came back down to earth. "To even have a chance of hurting me, you've got to _hate_ me. You must…"

That was as far as she got. Fate had appeared on her right flank, his left hand extended and generating an angry glow. A ring was now visible on the index finger.

"_Uh, oh,"_ thought Tredecim. _"That won't tickle!"_

"**Eternal Petrification!" **

The battlefield was illuminated with the blinding light of Fate's attack, but not everyone was tracking the fight blow for blow.

Upon hearing Tredecim's proclamation that Haruna was finished, Nodoka and Yue had lost all interest in the battle's outcome. All their attention, their worry, and their fear were now focused on Haruna. The black-haired girl's eyelids were growing heavy with fatigue; merely staying conscious had become a toil.

"H-Haruna!" Nodoka pleaded. "You have to stay awake!"

"Please hold on a little longer!" Yue urged, as she used her artifact to flip through information faster than she ever had before. "I'll find a way to break this curse! So please just…" Yue stopped when Haruna rested one of her hands on her arm.

"That's enough, Yue," Haruna rasped weakly. "I-it's enough. I know when I'm licked."

"Don't say that!" yelped Yue and Nodoka together.

"Listen," Haruna hissed. "Reach into my breast pocket and…" She paused to swallow heavily. "And pull out that drawing I was working on earlier."

"This is no time to worry about some stupid drawing, Haruna!" said Nodoka.

"Listen!" Haruna repeated with as much force as she could muster. "If we infuse that page with as much magic as we three can use while I'm still here, you two should be able to use it after I'm gone to get everybody to safety."

"Haruna!" cried Nodoka. "You shouldn't…" Nodoka's words caught in her throat when she saw Yue carrying out Haruna's request. "Yue?" she asked.

"We don't have time to debate right now," said Yue, her voice shaking. She quickly unfolded the page and held it out between the three of them. Haruna barely managed to lift her free hand over the paper. "Come on, Nodoka," said Yue.

"B-but," Nodoka protested weakly.

"Hurry, Nodoka," said Haruna. "I don't know how long I can hold my arm up like this."

Finally convinced, Nodoka moved her own hand over Haruna's to contribute to the effort. A softly glowing magic circle appeared on the page and began to pulsate, bringing the somewhat bizarre-looking creature drawn on it incredible vibrancy. All three of the girls' artifacts also began to generate light in tune with the magic being infused with the paper. After a few seconds the job was done. The now-iridescent drawing drifted downwards, but only Haruna seemed to notice it. The other two had reached out to grab hold of her, as she had begun to pitch forward. The manga artist realized her friends were calling out her name again.

"Hey, girls." Haruna's voice was now so low the others had to strain to hear it. "I think… I owe you an apology." The dying girl saw her two best friends' lips moving but couldn't really hear what they were saying and so kept talking. "I was always getting you guys into awkward situations for no real reason. I used to tell myself 'oh, it will be good for them,' or 'they'll thank me for this later'." Haruna thought she saw large trails of wetness running down Nodoka and Yue's cheeks but couldn't be sure because of the tears in her own eyes. "Now I think maybe I was just trying to keep myself entertained. But you two really are the best friends a person could have." Haruna coughed one more time and then continued. "Don't…don't stop looking for Negi, all right? You both love him and…you shouldn't give up on him, even if he has somebody else. And…don't you two…get all angsty and bent on revenge because of me dying. You know…" Haruna's eyes began to close. "Those stories…never end…very well."

And thus did Haruna Saotome's time in this life come to an end. But the pain of her passing did not end with the few that had been at her side. The effects of her death would be felt by several people all over the world. And in fact one of them had already sensed her departure, one who had once been bonded to her by the Pactio.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Thank heavens, I'm finally done! Haruna's death was actually done on a whim of mine and it ended up throwing me off track as to what I wanted to do with the story. I have gotten back on track now and the next chapter is already in the works. So hope that I can have it out within a month's time. This chapter also introduces Tredecim, an OC and the one character in this whole story with no redeeming qualities. Please let me know what you think of her!

Now what else… oh yeah! This story is now a year old! Where has the time gone? But if I keep typing even more time will slip away and you guys won't ever get to read this! So I'll see you all later!


	21. Ripple Effect

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima or the song that is in this particular chapter. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

D-Generation XX: Thank you! I sometimes worry about the quality of my OC's so your encouragement goes a long way for their continued existence. And as for Tredecim, well… I've got a number of things planned for her so please be patient.

Sweet Heavens: Yes, it is unfortunate that many authors overuse the miraculous recovery bit. I, however, am of the opinion that when a character dies they should stay dead.

Murraymints999: I am glad that I was able to pull off Haruna's death scene without screwing it up! You might not believe it after reading that tearjerker last chapter, but I can't stand Haruna in the manga! It's that know-it-all attitude and that smug grin of hers! But anyway, what was I going to tell again…? Oh, yes! You might want to wait until you've seen more of Tredecim before you start forming an opinion of her. You haven't even seen how bad she really is yet!

Masterrolex: Well, in Latin 'Tredecim' means 'thirteen' and Fate's real name (Tertium) means 'third'. But as for any connection beyond that, if there is one, even I haven't decided yet. And as far as Negi's reaction to Haruna's death goes… well, read on!

XXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XXI

Ripple Effect

Negi felt as though he had been dunked in a pool of freezing water. The timing of this chill would have been considered by some to be unusual as at that particular moment Negi was facing a wall of fire. Some might also find it strange that it was his childhood friend Anya Cocolova who was attacking him. Of course those who know Anya would wonder why it had taken her so long to try and hit Negi at all. Anya had always been a live wire and claimed that Negi was puny, dumb, and completely hopeless without her around. So after several years of no contact save for infrequent letters, the mere sight of Negi's face was enough to make her explode.

And explode she did. The minute Negi came into the same room with her and Negi's foster sister Nekane, Anya had charged straight at him, screaming 'Idiot!' at the top of her lungs. As Nekane vainly attempted to talk Anya out killing Negi, the man himself had merely ducked and dodged the unprovoked attack. Just out of range of the conflict, Rebecca, Makie, and several other of the hideout's inhabitants were watching the spectacle. A few, such as Makie, appeared somewhat bewildered. Most simply looked eager to see what Negi would do to the impudent punk. Only Rebecca was at all disinterested, having seen Negi trounce this sort of weak enemy nearly a dozen times.

Of course none of this had anything whatsoever to do with Negi's feeling cold all of a sudden. But even stranger than the feeling itself was how it seemed to be originating from his upper right leg and from there right up to his heart. About a second after the icy sensation started he realized it was actually coming from his pocket.

"_The Pactio cards!"_ his heart screamed. All conscious thought was now diverted away from the attacking Anya and instead focused on what shouldn't… _couldn't_… be happening, but was. He swiftly placed his right hand over the seven cards in his pocket, and sure enough the deathly chill was emanating from one of them. Worse still, the cold was fading, leaving nothing behind but a terrible emptiness. If he were to take the cards out he knew what he would see: one of the cards would be losing its most colorful features, and most of the words imprinted on it would be gone. The contract behind that particular card was coming to an end, but not because one or both of the people who had formed it were backing out. No, if that were the case, the card would simply crumble to ash and never be seen again. A card that was losing its most extravagant features symbolized the death of either the Magister or the Ministra.

"_No! Fate said he would…"_ The cold vanished, and the emptiness seemed to consume Negi's entire being. It was over. One of his partners…one of his friends was dead. The emptiness summoned up memories of a night in the snow ten years ago, when he had seen many of those closest to him turned to stone. Then the emptiness gave way to anger, a primal rage that rushed into his every pore, demanding he break something, even if it was only himself.

And the anger triggered something else, something far more dangerous than just the desire for vengeance: the actual means to pull it off. It was one of the first spells Aleric had had him learn and not one he was furious enough to use very often. Created by his former master Evangeline in ages long past, it was perhaps the most deadly weapon in his entire arsenal.

The forbidden spell, _Magia Erebea_, Dark Magic.

Rebecca sharply sucked in a breath when she saw the symbols light up on Negi's arms. _"He's using _that_?" _she thought in alarm._ "But this girl's nowhere near worth it!"_

Anya however, being totally blinded by righteous fury (or self-righteous fury, depending on your viewpoint), noticed neither the symbols nor the murderous aura and couldn't have stopped in time even if she had. She threw a fiery right hook at Negi's face, but it was an action she would quickly come to regret. With Negi's rational thought process temporarily out of commission for grief, his body reacted purely on fighting instinct. His left arm swung out and struck Anya's incoming punch from the side.

Rebecca, along with several others, took a step backwards from the conflict, knowing what was about to happen. You see _Magia Erebea_ has the potential to absorb an opponent's power and reflect it back on them, and because Anya's fire magic was only mid-level as compared to Negi's complete mastery of his power, there was the very real chance of…

_KA-BOOM!_

The explosion that followed shook the entire building. Anya's fire had been absorbed by Negi's spell pattern, enhanced by Negi's conflicting emotions, and then re-expelled in the opposite direction; that is, directly at Anya. The hapless girl was thrown across the room and smashed into a wooden table, breaking it and several bones in the process. She lay motionless in a heap.

Negi barely noticed. His mental state still somewhat unstable, he wasn't even fully aware that he had used his best spell. Fortunately a new voice cut through the stunned silence and successfully brought Negi's consciousness out of whatever pit it had fallen into.

"Hey, what the hell is going on in here?"

All those who had witnessed the unusual happenings spun around to see where the voice had come from. Those present who bore the title of Shadow Hunter (plus Makie) were surprised and not a little nervous to find that it was Aleric's partner Harley who had just shown up.

"Miss Harley," said Negi as though he had just woken up. This, he decided, was rapidly turning into the worst day of his life since his sudden teleportation away from Mahora. Harley was second-in-command of the Shadow Hunters and, as such, was probably the last person he would have wanted to see his moment of weakness, outside of Aleric himself.

"Well?" the raven-haired woman asked. "Am I to have an explanation as to why Aleric's star pupil is acting like a bouncer in a riverfront saloon?"

"I…this…," Negi struggled for an answer. After a few seconds of incoherent grumbling, he let out a frustrated sigh. "Could we please discuss this in private, Miss Harley? I feel this will take awhile to explain."

"All right then," said Harley. "Everybody except Rebecca and Makie, get out. And I know I saw a few of you cheering that unsightly display when I came in here, so those men will take this poor slob here," Harley gestured to Anya, "over to the medical room." The guilty few came forward to take the injured Anya away and Harley shook her head at them. "Isn't there enough violence in the world for you people?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Asuna was surprised by Fate's sudden attack, but she was even more surprised that he had aimed it exclusively at Tredecim. The white-haired boy had never struck her as the type who would have helped her or her friends no matter what the circumstances. Still, she wasn't in a position to look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, once that light faded, she'd be able to break whatever was left of that witch into tiny little fragments.

Even as Asuna finished thinking this, the beam from Fate's left hand winked out of existence. Unfortunately what was left behind was not quite what the attacker or the spectators had envisioned. Tredecim was still there, but only her left side had been turned to rock. She was looking straight at Fate, one half of her face frozen into an ugly grimace, and the other half showing a vicious frown and a single eye gleaming with anger.

"_Damn,"_ thought Fate. _"Too shallow."_

"You're going to pay for that," Tredecim hissed out of the moving corner of her mouth. Suddenly the petrified half of her body began to crack. A moment later it all broke away and crumbled to dust. Any of the Mahora group who saw what came next would have nightmares for years to come. Apparently Tredecim's body had only been petrified on the outside; her bones were still very much organic matter. All her weight was now on her flesh-covered right side, while her now-exposed skeleton hung limply on her left. Worst of all was her face, which was now a wretched fusion of a human skull and an otherwise beautiful woman's face. The empty eye socket glowed red.

In all his years dealing with the worst the magic world had to offer, Takamichi had never seen anything like it, at least when it wasn't an illusion.

"Dear God," whispered Mana. All the others, who were very close to losing their lunches, said nothing.

But Tredecim's necromancy-like display wasn't over yet. Relaxing the remaining muscles on her jaw bone she allowed her destroyed mouth to open and promptly began to suck in air. The breaths sounded strained and not altogether human as the breeze passed around both living and dead tissues. But it wasn't until tiny red particles started fluorescing in time with her respirations that one got the feeling she was inhaling more than just oxygen.

Then the members of the horrified Mahora group became aware that someone was crying. After a few seconds they realized that not only was it two voices that were sobbing aloud, but that they recognized them as well. Several of them risked looking backwards, and were frozen by what they saw there. Haruna lay unmoving in the arms of her closest friends, her eyes closed with no sign that they would ever open again. Yue, who had always been the cool, stoic voice of logic amongst their trio, was struggling to express the magnitude of her grief while maintaining her composure. Nodoka, however, had abandoned all semblance of dignity and was crying like a baby into her lost friend's chest. Ku Fei and Chachamaru, who had been the only others close enough to hear Haruna's last words, stood off to each side of the tragic scene, weeping quietly.

"No!" yelped Kotaro.

"Can't be," whispered Asuna. _"Not… not again! Haruna is… and Gatou-san before that… wait… what…"_

Suddenly there was a flash behind them, where Tredecim was semi-standing. The red light was almost like a volcano for a moment before it died down again. "Believe it or not, she's gone," said a now-complete Tredecim with her full grin. Whatever magic she had just used had completely restored her body: even her clothes had been repaired. "And thanks to that, my own injuries are healed." She stretched out her regenerated left arm and blew at a lock of hair that had drifted over her face. "But I seem to have worn out my welcome, so I think I'll finish up and call it quits for today."

"You're not going anywhere."

Asuna's voice was suddenly different. It was no longer the sound of a college student trying to sound tough. It was now the cold and confident tone of one who was ready to go to war. If it had been possible for Tredecim to be frightened by mortals, she would have been by this one.

"Oh, please!" Tredecim laughed. "Who are you to deny me passage?" Asuna's only reply was to materialize behind the black-hearted witch with her greatsword ready to swing. Sadly, Tredecim had been expecting something along those lines, so she was ready for it. Her right arm shot out and caught Asuna by both hands, stopping the sword slash. "What, you fancy yourself a knight for justice?" asked Tredecim, mockery in her voice. "You actually dare to put yourself on a level with myself?" Asuna lifted one leg up and attempted to kick her foe, but Tredecim dodged, twisting one of Asuna's arms around behind her back and sending the sword flying away at the same time. "Sorry to disappoint, _Princess_," spat the former Cosmo Entelecheia member into Asuna's ear. "But someone with your track record can hardly presume to hold me accountable for anything."

"You bitch!" hissed Asuna.

"Takes one to know one!" retorted Tredecim. "And anyway, it doesn't matter at all in the long run because you still can't beat me!" The traitorous witch then dropped her voice down to a whisper. "I told you already, right? If you want to kill me, you've got to hate me more than anything else in the world. You, on the other hand," she paused to make her point abundantly clear, "hate yourself far, far more then you do me."

Asuna ground her teeth together. Of all the stupid ideas! Obviously, she hated Tredecim way more than herself. She was the one she was trying to cut in half, wasn't she? But Asuna didn't have any more time for an internal debate, as she felt a wave of air whiz past her head and into Tredecim's.

Tredecim retreated several paces and raised a hand to her red and swollen cheek. "Resorted to sucker punches, have we, Takamichi?" she said with a sneer.

"You can hardly expect me to stand by and watch as you taunt Asuna-kun," said Takamichi.

Tredecim's reply was telepathic. "_That's a mighty informal way to refer to her. After all, she IS the Princess. I'm surprised she doesn't mind more. Or does she not know about that?_"

Takamichi attempted to keep his head clear of an answer. Tredecim had a certain reputation for turning friends against one another, and if she suddenly aired the Crimson Wing's dirty laundry, well…

"_Just so you know," _came Tredecim's mental projection again, _"in case you haven't told the Princess who she really is, Aleric has probably told Negi everything."_

This time it was almost impossible for the _iaiken_-user not to give a response. _"What? How could she… everything? But if that's the case, then…"_

"Getting distracted isn't like you, Takamichi," said Mana all of a sudden. She then took aim with both of her _Desert Eagles_ and fired at Tredecim. Tredecim raised a hand, indicating she was creating a barrier, but the bullets crashed right through and forced her to dodge once more.

"Ah, spellbreaker bullets," Tredecim remarked as she danced out of the projectiles' path. "Good choice under the circum…!" The black-haired witch suddenly dropped to the ground to avoid a combined blast of wind and thunder magic. Tredecim's face betrayed annoyance at the interruption, but this was short-lived. When she saw where the attack had come from her predatory smile returned.

Standing several meters away, wand still pointed at her mortal enemy, was Yue. She had stopped crying; the streak marks from the old tears were still visible on her cheeks but her eyes weren't producing any new ones. Her teeth were clenched together and her brow furrowed into an expression of awful hatred and sorrow.

"Oh, scary," taunted Tredecim. "You've got a nice look of revenge about you, kid, but an apprentice mage hasn't really got any chance against me."

"Probably not," said Yue sullenly. "But at this moment I can't bring myself to give a shit."

Tredecim laughed. Then she caught something out of the corner of her eye. A quick glance upward revealed what she had been hoping not to see; Fate's other hooded companion had returned with a fully charged Activation Stone and still-unconscious Konoka Konoe in tow, and was now standing with Fate's Ministra and Tsukuyomi atop the floating platform they had used to retreat. "Oh, rats!" Tredecim grumbled. She began to think aloud. "I knew I should have gone after those two first! Now they're gonna be able to help that infuriating little Shadow Hunter leader with that scheme of his!" She closed her eyes and groaned through her teeth at the thought. Seeing an opening, Ku Fei and Chachamaru, finding themselves emotionally torn by Yue's crass reply, pounced at Tredecim. What happened next was only a blur as far as the two martial artists knew. Tredecim grabbed each of them by the arm and used their own momentum to fling them away.

"_Without even looking she was able to send us flying!"_ thought the green-haired gynoid and blond Chinese girl together. Chachamaru activated her magic-powered thrusters to stabilize herself and took up a scouting position in the air. Ku, having no such equipment, simply executed a series of mid-flight maneuvers and upon reaching the ground slid to a stop on her hands and feet.

But Tredecim had already forgotten them. Turning towards Fate and his shadowy accomplice she offered the both of them a curtsy, which might have actually been considered polite had she not been sticking her tongue out at the same moment. "I'm sure we'll see each other again, Fatey," she cooed, returning to her full height.

"Only if you're extremely unlucky," was Fate's deadpan rejoinder.

Tredecim smiled and turned to face Asuna and Takamichi. "I look forward to meeting you two and all your friends again. Just don't be so easy to defeat next time."

"This isn't over yet!" Asuna shouted, taking two steps forward.

"Actually it is." Tredecim brought her right hand up, placed her thumb and middle finger together, and sent her hand back down, snapping those two fingers at the end of the arc. A half second later the collection of rocks that passed for an island was rocked by an explosion at its far side. After that three more blasts ripped through the landscape, the last of which sent a huge chunk of rock flying through the air that almost squashed Kaede. "This whole blowing-up-the-island thing may seem kind of stale," said Tredecim over the din of the ever-expanding chain explosion. "But don't blame me for that! The Shadow Hunters were the ones who left this little number behind; I just decided to use it to my own advantage. See ya!"

"No, stop!" cried Asuna, vainly reaching out to grab her enemy. Of course it was too late though. Tredecim had vanished with a teleportation spell and almost poetically left dead rose petals behind as a reminder of her presence. However, there was no more time to waste worrying about that, not with the very terrain around them coming apart at the seams.

"Mana-kun!" cried Takamichi. "Find Setsuna and bring her back here!" Mana answered with a brief nod and took off. "Asuna-kun, you and I will see if we can get Konoka back!" Asuna shifted her gaze to look at the floating platform Fate's allies were on, and where Konoka should have been. It took her only a second to realize that Konoka was not among that group.

"Wait a minute, where's…" Asuna started, but then stopped when Homura materialized in front of her with Konoka slung over her shoulder.

"Here, take her back!" said the pig-tailed girl, practically shoving the unconscious girl into Asuna's arms. "This one's almost more trouble than she's worth!" Homura was gone again in a flash, reappearing with her fellow Ministra and Tsukuyomi atop the artificial rock slab.

"Hey!" shouted Asuna. "Hold it! Why…" The redhead was cut off once more when Fate turned to her and started speaking.

"It was not our intention to hold your friend prisoner forever," said the platinum-haired boy. "We merely needed her for a short time. Now that that time has elapsed it is in our… best interests… to return her to you."

"Yeah, you bet it is," Asuna replied in a low voice. A trio of mammoth explosions demolished the nearby coastline and reminded Asuna that the immediate area was rapidly moving towards nonexistence.

"It was my hope that it wouldn't come to this," Fate said over the roaring echo of the blasts. "But my team and I must now retreat. I would offer to take you and your friends with us, Princess, but unfortunately our teleportation spell has only enough power for our group and no one else. I'm afraid you must find your own way out."

"As if we'd ask for your help after what you've done!" Asuna spat as she turned to rush Konoka back to their friends. "Just get out of here already!"

Fate said no more, and simply teleported up to his companions. The shadow mage joined him a moment later. Fate then looked over to his nameless ally who held the Activation Stone and nodded his head. "Get us out of here." In reply the mage waved his free hand and a bright light enveloped their group and the entire block on which they were standing. A moment later there was nothing left in that space save for air.

XXXXXXXXXXX

An incredibly loud shrieking noise jolted Setsuna from her unconscious sleep. It sounded as though some enormous beast had been grievously injured and was roaring out in agony. Setsuna attempted to rise, only to discover that when she had hit the ground from Tredecim's attack, she had badly injured her back. Normally her wings, having been extended at the time, would have taken the brunt of the damage. However the position she had been in had caused her to hit the ground vertebrae first. The most she could manage to do was roll over onto her stomach to see the remains of the derelict ship vanishing in a tremendous ball of flame.

"_What the…?"_ thought Setsuna. _"Why did the wreck blow up?"_ Then, out of the corner of her eye, Setsuna caught the sight of three building-sized rocks disintegrating. _"It's _not_ just the old ship that's exploding,"_ she realized with not a little horror, _"it's this entire chain of sea rocks! I've got to get back to Ojou-sama and the others!"_

Setsuna blearily looked around for her sword, finding it sticking upright out of the ground several feet away. The injured swordswoman had no choice but to crawl over to her weapon and then grab onto the flattened edge of the blade in order to stand. It was only when she reached her feet again that she realized she was still topless. Suddenly panicked, she whipped her head around to look for her missing shirt, only to almost keel over again because of her battered back. Setsuna hissed in pain and settled for holding her left arm over her chest. Suddenly the ground jolted from another explosion. Setsuna heard a kind of whistling overhead. She looked up to see a large, slightly dented slab of metal flying right at her. Knowing that her back would probably never let her live this down, but realizing there was no other alternative, she yanked her sword tip from the ground, focused her _Ki_, and executed one of her Shinmeiryuu techniques.

"Shinmeiryuu Ougi Zanganken!"

The large piece of shrapnel split in two and landed on either side of the embattled girl. Once both sections had settled Setsuna collapsed to her knees, feeling as though someone had set her spine on fire.

"D-damn it," she whispered. "I can hardly move. I'll never be able to get back to Ojou-sama at this rate!"

Another explosion. This time at least a dozen rocks, each about the size of a human head, were chipped and ejected from the side of a boulder and sent in Setsuna's general direction.

"_No!"_ thought the half-demon as she watched the stone that was on a crash course with her belly. _"I can't let it end this way! Ojou-sama still…!"_ Without warning, all the rocks that were heading for the hapless girl shattered into almost microscopic fragments. As the confused girl tried to figure out why she was still breathing a tall shadow came into her line of sight.

"It's not like you to be so beat up, Setsuna," said Mana. The dark-skinned woman's _Desert Eagles_ were still smoking from the round she had just fired off.

"M-Mana-san," panted Setsuna. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, but what are you doing here?"

"Takamichi sent me to find you," answered Mana. "This whole place is about to…" On cue, another explosion occurred, raining molten shrapnel only a few feet away. "…do that. We have to get out of here."

"I was already trying to leave," explained Setsuna. "But my back is so badly hurt I can hardly move." Instead of answering, Mana simply crouched down and grabbed the backs of Setsuna's knees from behind. Before Setsuna could question what her friend was doing, she had been hoisted up so she was being carried piggy-back style. "Wha…?"

"You'll owe me for this later," said Mana with a slight smirk. Setsuna's gaze drifted downward and fell on a slip of paper held between Mana's fingers. "These teleportation talismans cost a fortune and it's because of you that I have to use two in one setting." Mana then released the spell within the paper and within the time of one explosion the two were back among their friends.

Setsuna immediately looked for Konoka, and upon seeing her unconscious in Asuna's arms she very nearly had a panic attack. "Konoka Ojou-sama! What happened…?"

"She's fine, but there's no time right now," interrupted Asuna. "Takahata-sensei, we've got everybody!"

"Good work," said Takamichi. "Now everyone gather around Yue and Nodoka!"

But even as Takamichi spoke an ear-shattering roar leapt out of the battered and broken sea rocks. It was as if the ocean itself had been wounded and was crying out in its suffering. The end was near.

"Nodoka-dono! Yue-dono!" cried Kaede, rushing up next to them; then in a softer voice she continued, "Are you two sure this will work, de-gozaru?" She glanced at the luminescent paper the two librarians were holding out. "I mean that drawing was created using Haruna-dono's artifact, so it might not work now that…" She trailed off and didn't pick up again.

Yue was about to respond with a firm maybe when the sound of rushing water broke in. The rocks had begun to sink beneath the surface, creating a one-hundred-and-eighty degree waterfall and sending a deluge straight at the battle-weary group.

"No time!" cried Yue. She turned to find Nodoka looking back towards Haruna's cold face with an expression that seemed to split between pleading, uncertainty, sorrow, and a faint, ill-defined anger. Seeing it brought the stinging wetness back to Yue's eyes. _"Ah, damn it!"_ cursed Yue to herself. _"Come on! Focus, Yue, focus!"_ Tearing her stare away from her two greatest friends – one already dead and the other only wishing she was – Yue forced her mouth to work. "Nodoka! Help me with this!" The blue-haired mage began funneling her power into the paper but soon discovered that she was alone in her efforts. Nodoka, it seemed, was still not fully at home.

Meanwhile, as the remains of the Library Trio delayed with the team's best means of escape, Takamichi, Kotaro, and Kaede worked feverishly to create a shield that would protect everyone from the surging water. A large bubble made of _Ki_ surrounded the group just in time to meet the torrent of saltwater and hold it back. But the water was rising quickly and the three who had created the barrier soon found themselves straining to keep it together.

"Ugh, you wouldn't think that only a foot-and-a-half of water would be this strong," grumbled Kotaro.

"There's also the fact that we're tuckered out from fighting, de-gozaru," commented Kaede. "But you're right, I wasn't expecting so little water to make that big of an impact."

"Remind me to give you two a refresher course on riptides and flood currents," said Takamichi. He then shouted over his shoulder, "Nodoka-kun! Yue-kun! Please hurry!"

"We're trying, Takahata-sensei!" Yue called back. She then used her free hand to grab Nodoka's shoulder and give it a strong jostle. "Nodoka!" Yue hissed. "Please! I need your help!"

Nodoka, as if in a daze, turned to look at her friend with an empty stare.

Yue's resolve was shaken by that hollow gaze but continued anyway. "You and I have to work together to make this golem work!" she said, shaking the page for emphasis. When she still didn't get much of a reaction Yue decided to attack the problem head on. "Nodoka, I know you're upset about Haruna…"

A sudden wave of heat came up from the ground and caused the now almost three-foot-high water outside the shield to start boiling. It was the onset of the final explosion.

"Yue! Honya!" cried Asuna, watching the rock she was standing on start to crack apart.

"You guys!" demanded Mana, her nerves making an infrequent appearance.

"…but if you don't snap out of it right now, everyone else is going to die too!" finished Yue.

Finally Nodoka started to respond. "No, I, I…," she sputtered, "…won't… let it happen."

"Then grab the page and focus your magic into it!" Yue pleaded. Nodoka at last did so, and not a second too soon. Even as the drawing on the paper began to emerge, all that remained of the island was lost in that last fiery combustion. Rocks as large as sofas were hurled up into the air along with thousands of gallons of vaporized seawater. Fire blazed at the base of a column of smoke and steam that reached up thirty-thousand feet in the air. Bits and pieces of melted metal crashed back into the ocean and sank to the bottom, never to see the light of day again. The debris killed thousands of sea creatures as it rained down, so that for days afterwards the ocean was littered with their carcasses.

And up out of this catastrophe rose a figure. It was indistinct at first but became clearer as it soared southeast. Its overall shape was similar to the flying ships used in the Magic World, but where those ships were fish-like in appearance this one was more like a bird. Haruna's final work sported three pairs of brown-feathered wings that flapped rhythmically, landing gear on its underside that extended in the same fashion as a bird's legs, and finally a tip that that distinctly resembled a hawk. The entire vessel was surrounded by a transparent membrane of power. It was this barrier that had protected both the golem and its occupants from the explosion.

Of course, this conspicuous appearance was not suited for travel in the Old World. Luckily, Haruna had thought of this as well. The barrier surrounding the ship shimmered, and then everything within it vanished from view. This is how the group would travel unseen back to Japan. It would be a relatively safe journey in comparison to what they had gone through.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Negi sat alone on the roof of a building, hoping that nobody would come looking for him. Explaining himself had not been easy, especially with Makie nearby. To the pink-haired girl's credit she had not made a scene or even cried all that much. Still Negi had been able to see that the news of the death of one of her old classmates had hurt her deeply. Fortunately for the both of them Harley had been understanding and sympathetic. She had allowed Aleric's two apprentices a few hours to compose themselves before she formally requested a status report on Negi's current mission.

"_My current mission,"_ thought Negi bitterly. _"My current mission is to see to Asakura-san and Sayo-san's safety and I've doing my utmost to guard them. But while I was preoccupied with that I allowed a dangerous situation to develop around my other former students and now…"_ Negi put his head down on his knees. One part of him was screaming that he never should have entrusted the girls' safety to Fate Averruncus. Another said that when next he and the platinum-haired boy met he would blast him into his fourth body, Project Infinity's outcome be damned. Still another was saying that Fate wasn't somebody that would disregard a promise so easily and that something must have gone wrong. And yet one more was pondering whether a fall from the height he was at would be enough to kill him.

The inner conflict was so intense that eventually it began to wear down his emotional training. Once that happened, he finally let a tear slide down his cheek. "Damn," he whispered as he wiped it away with the back of his hand.

"Captain?"

Negi jumped and then straightened. His totally unfocused mind had conspired with his familiarity with his subordinates' presences to hide Rebecca until she was only a few feet away.

"Y-yes, Rebecca?" Negi asked somewhat unsteadily. "Is it time to go back?"

Rebecca was struck by the undertones of brokenness in his voice. She had never before heard Negi sound so sad. "No, sir," she answered after a moment. "You still have another hour. I just came here because…" her eyes dropped down for a second before rising back up, "…because I was worried."

Negi's initial reaction to this was to wonder why Rebecca would worry over him, and he almost asked her as much. Then he remembered a bit of advice Aleric had once given him. _"You seem to wonder why anyone would worry and fuss over you, Negi,"_ his master had said. _"Let me put it to you this way: in terms of how sinful an action is, thinking you're superior to someone else, and thinking you're inferior to someone else is exactly the same."_ This had confused Negi greatly, so Aleric had explained further. _"They're the same because you're putting something on a pedestal that doesn't belong there. In an ultimate sense, no one person is any more or less valuable than any other person. So with that in mind, please try to consider what you would do were you in your teammate's place."_

Okay, so considering Rebecca's place, it was obvious she would worry over him. Not only was he her team leader but they socialized off-duty as well. They could be considered friends, so of course friends concern themselves with one another's well-being. So now the appropriate answer to her statement would be…

"Sorry I worried you," Negi answered at length. "I'm just really upset right now."

"Yes, well, only a mage who is totally heartless could learn about the death of one of their partners and feel nothing," said Rebecca, nodding. She took a step forward and very gently rested her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Touched by his teammate's kindness, Negi placed his hand over hers and allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his face. "Thanks, Rebecca."

Rebecca blushed and once more directed her sight downward, this time at the street below. She was surprised when she saw two people she knew messing around with a restaurant's advertisement sign. "Hey," she said, pointing with her free hand. "Isn't that Sati and Herald?"

Negi looked to where the Huntress was pointing and sure enough, there were his other squad-mates. "Oy, what are those two up to now?" Negi sighed, exasperated. He really didn't need to put up with one of Herald and Sati's boneheaded stunts right now. Then he got a look at what they were changing the sign to.

It now read 'We Serve Hot Rhino Testes'.

In spite of themselves Negi and Rebecca had to place the backs of their hands against their mouths and cough to keep from laughing out loud. After a few muffled chuckles the two had won back their self-control and were traveling down to the street to intercept their wayward companions. Not one of the four Shadow Hunters was aware that Harley was holding vigil over them from the top of the highest building in town.

"Looks like Aleric was right," Harley said to herself with a melancholy smile. "As long as Negi has those three with him, he should be fine." From her perch Harley could see that Negi and Rebecca had reached Sati and Herald and were rather sharply questioning them on what they were doing. Somehow watching them reminded her of her own little circle of friends, the original six Shadow Hunters. This, combined with the grim news Negi had given her, caused her to begin singing softly to herself.

"You are my stories  
Unread stories  
You are my stories  
Unread stories

When I gazed at your eyes  
I could see an unknown country

Stories with their doors opened  
Stories that won't ever close again  
Stories with their doors opened  
Stories that won't ever close again

Destiny is unchangeable  
Let's go to an unknown country

I want to protect you  
Just with that wish alone  
In this pitch-black world  
Until the moment when light overflows

I want to protect you  
Just with that wish alone  
In this pitch-black world  
Until the moment when light overflows."

When her song concluded, she felt four, no, five presences appear behind her. All but one was familiar to her, so she wasn't at all alarmed, however.

"Team Epsilon reporting in," came the voice of Tess McGuiness.

Harley turned around. "Oh, yes," she said. "Hans told me he sent you guys on a mission. Something about a hacker actually getting into one of our computers?"

"That's right," said Tess with a fierce smile. "And here's the little turd now." She gestured for Otto to unload the burden he was carrying over his shoulders.

Chisame Hasegawa was dropped haphazardly to the ground. She had been bound by tape around her wrists and ankles, and one of the lenses of her oversized glasses was cracked. There was a large bruise on her head, and she was most decidedly unconscious.

"This is the first prisoner I've taken in a long time," said Tess, her fierce smile only growing fiercer. "I'd almost forgotten how aggravating not being able to finish someone who ticks you off can be."

XXXXXXXXXXX

IMPORTANT NOTICE! The song above was NOT created by me! My reason for putting it in this FanFiction is that it seemed appropriate to the setting. Also I would like to see if any of my reviewers can identify where the song came from, so it's kind of like a little contest.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, this chapter is kind of like my birthday gift to myself (even though my birthday was on the 26th). I realize it's been a while but at least I made it before the three month mark! So I actually _am_ getting better and not just typing about it!

And one last thing before I go: I have been getting the strangest feeling that, somehow, Zazie Rainyday is connected with the Mage of the Beginning from Cosmo Entelecheia. I don't know why but that's the feeling I'm getting! Fate's dialogue in the manga points to the Mage of the Beginning being able to create more complex and powerful golems (or dolls) that the norm and Fate himself is proof of this. Connecting that with Zazie are those shadow-monster things that follow her around all the time. They speak and seem to need to eat. That aside, Zazie is the one student in all of class 3-A that hasn't had a major part in _any_ of Negima's 262 chapters. She'll have to have some kind of significant role before the series is over.

But enough of my ranting! I'll see you all again and please review!


	22. Damage Control

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

Murrymints999: You're right, Nekane did sort of get jilted there. But there is kind of a reason for it and unfortunately she just wasn't vital to the plot at that moment and I had bigger fish to fry, what with Haruna having just died and all. And really my deadline was starting to breathe down my neck so I decided to transfer Nekane's airtime to this chapter. In fact the chapter starts off with her!

D-Generation XX: I'm flattered that you think my OCs are that good! One of my chief flaws as a writer is that I am never satisfied with what I manage to get down in script. Heck, a good deal of my time writing is spent pressing the backspace button while saying 'No, that's stupid, that's terrible.' But for the record I must say that I didn't kill Haruna just because I don't like her. I did it because she was close to two of the girls in the class who have crushes on Negi (Yue and Nodoka). I wanted to see how those two will take it when they find out Negi allowed Fate to go after them. Also, it's extremely difficult to keep up with all the different girls in Class 3-A and not feel like I'm shortchanging at least a few of them in each chapter.

Masterolex: Actually, Nekane and Anya were able to track Negi down _because_ they weren't with Mahora. Aleric used his influence within the magic organizations to stonewall the efforts of any of Mahora's teachers or associates to find Negi. Nekane and Anya didn't have that problem and Negi himself has been sending them letters while he's been with the Hunters. That, combined with some good/bad luck, allowed for this surprise visit.

XXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XXII

Damage Control

It was a little-known fact that Nekane Springfield suffered from a problem with fainting spells. Of course when the word "spells" is used it's not the magic but the mundane use of the word. Anyway, whenever Nekane was faced with anything sufficiently surprising or unnerving (usually pertaining to her cousin/foster brother) her conscious mind would go south for the winter. Apparently four years of separation from Negi had done nothing to change this. The moment Nekane had gotten a look at her younger relative using the admittedly scary-looking Magia Erebea to blast a mutual friend across the room, the poor woman assumed that her worst nightmare had come to life, and was on the floor unconscious before Harley had even said 'What the hell's going on in here?'

And in another unfortunate twist of fate, Shadow Hunters were not used to having people faint. Not one of the Hunters in the room had noticed the blond-haired woman go down. Actually, it was only after almost everyone else had left the room that someone noticed Nekane sprawled out like a dead duck. This particular Hunter, one of the regular troops, by the name of Margaret Falcon, had been nice enough to wake Nekane, although she could have been a bit gentler while doing it (she had squeezed the blond girl's cheeks together so that the first words out of her mouth were 'Wad a you doon?').

Nekane now sat on a wooden chair in the Shadow Hunters' infirmary with the still-unconscious Anya in front of her. She was resting on a fold-out cot with a large bandage encircling her head and a cast around one arm and one leg. Each of the wrappings was suffused with a healing spell and would have given off an unmistakable pink glow were it not for the overhead lights.

Nekane let out a worried sigh. Visions of Negi as a temperamental, capital-punishment-loving warlord were running through her head, and not being able to see him since the incident was driving her batty. "Anya, why, why did you have to be such a hothead?" Nekane moaned to herself. "Couldn't you just greet an old friend like normal people do? I realize we're mages, but…"

Margaret Falcon, who was still in the infirmary with Nekane, decided to interject. "If it makes you feel any better, Captain Springfield doesn't usually react like that. My guess is that something had him badly upset before this firecracker friend of yours tried to hit him." Here Margaret's expression became curious. "Speaking of which, why _did_ she try to attack him? Most mid-level mages would think twice about attacking even an ordinary Shadow Hunter, let alone one of the captains."

"Well," started Nekane slowly, "Anya and Negi grew up together. Negi's only been able to send letters sporadically for the last few years. I suppose Anya took this somewhat harder than I did."

"A little bit worse? That girl was going berserk for no reason!" The blond woman jumped and spun to look at the door. There, right in the middle of the doorway, was Rebecca. Just behind her were Sati, Herald, and Negi. Negi looked up at Nekane and offered her a smile, though it was clearly full of sadness. Sati's smile, however, was fairly giddy.

"So this is the nut job you were telling us about!" said the Indian girl, looking down at Anya. "I wish I had been here to see it! You haven't let the rest of us see Evangeline-sempai's trick for ages!"

Herald shuddered. "No, thanks!" he said. "I love magical combat techniques as much as you do, Sati, but the thought of fusing with one of your spells makes my skin crawl."

"Anyway," said Negi somewhat forcefully, "Nekane, how is Anya doing?"

"Well, she seems to be resting easy," said Nekane slowly.

"She should be resting in peace!" chirped Margaret. "This girl's just lucky she isn't all that impressive of a magician, or else that would be the case."

Negi ground his teeth together and looked down with a decidedly guilty expression. He then managed to force himself to speak. "Hello, Miss Margaret. How are you and your children doing?"

"I'm fine, but the kids are as rambunctious as ever," answered Margaret with a sigh. "I really don't know what I'd do if Master Aleric didn't allow them to live at the main base."

"Well, it would be a terrible waste of resources for the rest of us, and for him as well," said Rebecca. "After all, with those five living at HQ, nobody's getting in, not with their sanity intact anyway."

Margaret chuckled. "Yes, they are rather difficult at times. But I should really get going; I have another mission to get to. We still have to earn our meals, after all." The five Shadow Hunters said their goodbyes, and Margaret departed the room, leaving them alone with Nekane and Anya.

Negi took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Sister," he said, "I wanted to apologize for what I did to you earlier, and I'd also like to explain." Nekane wanted to say that Negi didn't have to apologize, but she did want to hear the explanation, so she kept quiet.

"What about this one?" said Herald, pointing to Anya.

Negi paused. "Yes, I guess it would be better if I woke her up first, but how to do it?"

"Don't worry, I got it," said Rebecca. She walked over to one of the countertops that had a basin filled with water on it. Rebecca took hold of it with both hands, moved it right over Anya's face, and before anyone could stop her dumped every last drop on the unconscious fire-user's head.

"Blargh!" Anya gasped, jolted out of her semi-comfortable sleep. "Who… how… what… where… when?"

"Anya!" said Nekane, grabbing onto the younger girl's shoulders. "Calm down! You're safe now!" Anya, still dripping wet, looked straight at Nekane's face for several seconds while she caught her breath. Then she glanced over at Negi, and that was the end of that.

"Ah! You!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger. "You hit me!"

"I did," admitted Negi. "And I'm sorry about that, but can I say one other thing before you go on?" The young fire-user started to speak again, but Nekane covered her mouth with one hand. Incensed by this seeming betrayal, Anya moved her glare towards the blond woman and started to take Nekane's hand off, when Negi spoke again. This time Anya gave pause, more for the actual words themselves than how they were delivered.

"One of my partners has passed away," he said. "It happened just while you were attacking me, Anya, so I…" He trailed off.

"Oh, Negi," said Nekane. Every mage understood that when a magical contract was formed, the Ministra or Minister borrowed not only some of their master's power, but some of their master's heart as well. How much depended on the mage's personality, but the fact remained that whenever one partner died, some small part of the other partner died as well. "I'm so sorry."

"W-what are you talking about?" asked Anya unsteadily. "You never mentioned having any Pactio partners in any of those letters you bothered to send us!"

Negi chewed the inside of his cheek in apprehension. "Ah, yes, well," started Negi. "I actually had seven partners before I left Mahora. I didn't tell you about them back then because… I honestly wanted to introduce them to you and Nekane in person. Then I got sent away from Mahora, and well, you know." Anya's ears heard everything Negi was saying, but her brain stopped working at the words "seven partners."

"_Seven partners?"_ Anya's inner voice raged. _"Well, I guess six partners now, but that's not the point! And he found them all while he was trying to be a teacher? Ridiculous! He was barely ten years old when he went there to begin with, and he already starting making out with older women!"_

Just as Negi's old friend was about to have her second temper tantrum of the day, Kazumi, with the Sayo-doll on her shoulder, came barreling through the door with Makie following shortly.

"Sensei, is it true what Makie said?" Kazumi demanded, obviously distraught. "Did one of the others…?"

"Yes," said Negi solemnly. "It's true."

Horror overtook Kazumi's features. "No way…" she said, the strength leaving her voice. "Who...and why?" As a reporter she had asked these questions hundreds of times before, yet this time found it much more difficult.

Negi reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out his Pactio cards. After looking at the cards for a moment to reaffirm that one of them, like the people they represented, was still dead, Negi announced the name. "It was Haruna," the fourteen-year-old said forlornly.

"Saotome-san," whispered Sayo.

"Paru," muttered Kazumi, her gaze moving to the floor. "I…I can't believe it. She always seemed so… I don't know… tough." She shook her head, blinked, and turned back to Negi. "How did it happen?"

The former teacher's eyes became like mahogany. "I don't know, Kazumi-san," he answered. "But I intend to find out."

"That sounds like a good idea," came yet another new voice. Harley had appeared in the doorway and, truth be told, she was glad to have an excuse not to tell Negi she had just had to imprison another of Negi's partners in their headquarters detention block. _"No need to tell him that now,"_ she thought_. "It'll just add to his burden, and it's not as though we're going to torture the girl. We're not inhuman."_

"Miss Harley," said Negi, "what do you mean…"

"Well," started Harley, "you asked Fate to do something for you, and he couldn't get it done. And since they're going to be playing such a big role in our overarching plan, I'd say that warrants investigation. So I'm sending you, Herald, Rebecca, and Sati out to question Cosmo Entelecheia. And don't worry about Miss Asakura and your sister. I'll take care of everything."

Negi hesitated a moment before answering. "Thank you, ma'am." Negi then turned to Nekane. "Listen, Nekane. Even though we haven't had much of a chance to talk, it's been really great seeing you. But I have something very important I have to do now, so I'm going to have to leave."

"Now wait just a minute!" barked Anya, leaping to her hands and knees on the cot. "Nekane and I spent the last few years looking all over the world for you and all of a sudden you're rushing off again?" The irate girl inserted a huff before continuing. "Well, you can forget that, pal! You're not going anywhere until Nekane and I get an explanation for why you ran off on us!"

Negi turned to reply, but Harley cut him off. "I'll explain everything to them, Negi. You and your team just get going."

"Miss Harley, are you sure…?"

Suddenly Harley had drawn herself up to her full height. "Springfield, ten hut!" Negi, Herald, Rebecca, and Sati, all visibly shaken, jumped to attention, arms at their sides. Even Anya and the others had been shocked into silence. "About face!" she demanded, pointing toward the door. Team Delta faced toward the door. "Forward, skedaddle!" For sheer speed, the team's exit from the infirmary has yet to be rivaled.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Fate Averruncus was not happy.

A lot of people would have said this was nothing new, as his typical expression made one think of a castrated animal, but today was different. Today he was even more unhappy than even one of his infrequent frowns could fully convey. It was most obvious in two ways. One of these was how his Ministra, usually eager to jump to his side, seemed wary of getting too close to him. The other was that he had changed his appearance. For reasons known only to Fate himself he had discarded the ten-year-old form he'd used against the Mahora group in favor of a fourteen-year-old body, very reminiscent of when he had been Primitum twenty-four years ago.

"Why do you think Fate-sama changed his form?" whispered Koyomi. "I mean, not that he doesn't look good like that, but…"

Homura, Tamaki, Shirabe, and Shiori all shook their heads. Typically these five, being Fate's partners, had a good idea of what was going through his mind, but not now. This was one of those few times when he hadn't told them anything.

Luckily it was also one of those few times that Tsukuyomi, arguably Cosmo Entelecheia's most air-headed member ever, was able to actually read Fate's behavior.

"Fate-han is expecting Negi-han to show up soon," the blond swordswoman said, surprising the other girls with her input.

"The Thousand Master's son?" blurted Shiori. "Why would he be coming here? And why would Fate-sama alter his body because of that?"

"Because of what happened with Tredecim," said Tamaki, her eyes widening. "Fate-sama promised Negi-san that none of his old students would get hurt in that operation and we failed." A trace of worry appeared on Tamaki's face. "Fate-sama must be expecting to have to defend himself when Negi-san arrives."

"But that wasn't our fault!" protested Homura. "If that witch Tredecim hadn't shown up…"

Shirabe cut her off. "I don't think that that will matter to either Fate-sama or Negi-san. You all know how Fate-sama feels about people from the Old World getting hurt because of our business. And the one killed was one of Negi-san's Ministra, so…"

"B-but we and the Shadow Hunters are supposed to be allies!" said Koyomi, badly flustered. "Negi-san wouldn't risk our alliance over a single failure!" The cat-girl paused and then added as a very unpleasant afterthought, "Would he?"

"I don't know…" Shiori muttered, looking downwards. "We've changed our own plans so much to ally with the Hunters. We can't afford to lose their friendship now!"

In total opposition to Shiori's worry Tsukuyomi chuckled. "Come on, don't get your panties in a knot," she said. "Just because Fate-han and Negi-han plan on beating each other up it doesn't mean that…" Tsukuyomi was abruptly cut off as an enormous wave of malicious power tore through the room. All six girls whipped their heads around, some instinctively drawing their weapons and artifacts as they did so, when they saw Fate rushing outside.

"Fate-sama!" called Homura after her master. She then started to follow after him with pigtails blazing but Fate turned slightly and froze her with a one-eyed stare.

"Stay back!" he ordered his comrade sternly. "This one's too dangerous!" Without wasting another moment the platinum-haired man used _Ground Contractor_ and was gone.

Though they would have been loath to admit it, Fate's five partners were both extremely worried and slightly put out by his refusal of help. Slightly put out because they were hardly weaklings who needed protection. Extremely worried because the number of opponents _that_ powerful was miniscule.

"Negi-han must have arrived," said Tsukuyomi, stating the obvious. "But I don't remember Negi-han's magic being quite this intense or," she searched for the right word, "…ominous."

"It's the Magia Erebea spell," Shiori said with a somewhat shaky undercurrent. "Fate-sama said Negi-san knew it."

Tsukuyomi sighed in disappointment. "Then I should probably stay here too," she said, putting her swords away. "If I try to go out there now I'll most likely end up cut into three pieces and petrified, as much fun as that would be."

Strangely, it was tough to tell if she was being sarcastic about that last part or not.

XXXXXXXXXX

Far removed from the soon-to-be battlefield Tredecim stood before her assembled subordinates. Well, to be more specific, she was lounged across a very uncomfortable-looking object with Walter Crumb, Catherina Clayton, Chigusa Amagasaki and her two still-masked companions kneeling in front of her. The room they were in was poorly lit and completely bare, save for the thing Tredecim was resting on. Bizarre symbols covered the walls and floor, with only the ceiling devoid of them.

"Hey, listen, guys," she said, trying to sound as blasé as possible. "I got results even if you didn't. I'm sure the problems you guys have been having were just temporary setbacks, right, Catherina?"

Catherina lifted her face, trying to look like she wasn't burning with shame. "Next time," Catherina hissed, "I'll beat that creature."

"Walter?" asked Tredecim.

"No, ma'am," the older man stated. "From now on, no more unreliable thugs. I settle things with my own hands."

"Chigusa?"

"We were merely trying to acquire data on our foes in this first round, ma'am," Chigusa assured Tredecim. "We'll be fully prepared to take Springfield and his teammates down the next time we meet them."

Tredecim grinned. "Good! Then we don't have any problems. You guys can go; I have to figure out a few things on my own." Her five subordinates bowed again, and then vanished through an opening in the ceiling. Once they were gone, she dismounted the object she had been lying on. The happy expression she had been wearing was replaced with a much more taciturn look. "That's strike one, guys," she muttered to herself. She pointed her left hand towards one of the walls and invoked one of the runes on it to activate. Its shape was reminiscent of a bull's-eye, but one with many nails running through it. It glowed a fiery red in the darkness.

With this extra light, more details of the thing Tredecim had been on top of could be seen. It was a large rectangular golden box with two winged figures atop its cover at either end. Tredecim had been sitting atop the head of one of these. Two large poles were held to the sides of it with gold rings. Tredecim looked back at it and frowned.

"It's getting a little dusty again," she said, moving back over to the artifact. She pulled a rag out of her pocket, leaned in close to the face of one of the cherubim (yes, that's what they were), and spat on it. She then used her rag to wipe away both the saliva and the alleged dust. "I'd much prefer the original to this cheap thing," Tredecim whined to no one. "It'd be _soooo_ much more fun having _that_ as one of my trophies. Just like I'll have the Thousand Master's head… and his son's… as well as Aleric and Princess Asuna's." Tredecim let an evil chuckle cross her lips, though there wasn't a soul around to hear it.

XXXXXXXXXX

I **HATE** THIS CHAPTER! It's been plaguing me for months and all it amounts to is a lousy info dump! But after so many weeks of writing, rewriting, and nearly pulling my hair out, I finally decided that no one chapter is worth all this and just to get on with the story. I know I should update more frequently but look on the bright side, there are a bunch of other good stories that haven't been updated since last year, and probably never will.

On an unrelated note the song in the last chapter is 'Stories' from Code Geass. I'm surprised no one called me on that one.

Well, I really should get started on twenty-three but before I do I leave you with this quote: "Enough with the book. I just realized why… so many writers become bloated alcoholic suicides. No, don't type that in!" Kinda profound isn't it?

See ya next time!


	23. Fight, Farewell, and Arrival

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

Murraymints999: Thanks for bearing with me through the tough times. I think part of what happened was that I had too many plotlines going at one time to effectively manage them all. But luckily I won't have to think so much with this chapter because it begins with a slugfest!

HikariNoTenshi-San: I'd think that this fight would be boring if it were easy for either Negi or Fate.

Yipstar: Again, part of what went wrong was that I had too many topics to cover at one time. But anyway, thanks for reviewing!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XXIII

Fight, Farewell, and Arrival

Tertium Averruncus, known as 'Fate' by his own preference, was currently standing outside the entrance to his organization's hideout, quite possibly awaiting certain doom. Most in this same position would be rather unhappy and Fate was, make no mistake. But the situation itself wasn't the cause of his sour mood. No, no, the reason behind his displeasure was that he had been forced to break his word and in so doing had allowed a human, an inhabitant of the Old World whose birth had nothing to do with magic, to be killed. Now he had to answer to the one he had given his word to.

His master, the Mage of the Beginning, would have been disappointed with his efforts. Especially because the whole situation had involved Tredecim, the woman that had been allowed to join their group so that she could be monitored and restrained. She simply had too dangerous a mentality to be left unguarded. Fate had no doubts that, eventually, he would have to answer to the Mage as well.

If, that is, he survived this little encounter.

He could feel Negi getting closer every second and he could tell by the hateful power filling the air that he would have no interest in talking until after there had been a fight. Of course, even if Negi killed him it wouldn't make too much of a difference. He'd simply end up coming back as Quartum Averruncus if that happened. The thought, though, left a bad taste in Fate's mouth. His true names were among the few things in this world that he actually despised. Primitum, Secundum, Tertium, Quartum… they were such inelegant things.

"Trying to find your inner peace, Fate?"

And there was Negi. At least this would put an end to the endless speculation.

"Something like that," Fate answered, turning to face his rival. The heavily illuminated spell patterns on Negi's arms were the first thing that caught the eye. Their appearance heralded a battle that promised pain on the part of both parties, as well as an altered landscape afterwards. They certainly didn't speak of Fate's continued health. "Before we get started," said Fate, moving his gaze to meet Negi's, "you should know that there is an explanation for what happened."

"An explanation, huh?" Negi asked, sounding neither understanding nor forgiving. "Don't you mean an excuse?" When Fate didn't even attempt to reply Negi continued, voice rising. "You know that when I let you go after them it was under the express understanding that you would also see to their safety! It was your responsibility to deal with any unexpected situations as much as it was to get the actual mission accomplished!"

"There are some things that cannot be anticipated," said Fate, for once looking genuinely regretful. "You know that as well as I do. But our acceptance of that rule is sometimes…"

"Shut up."

The volume of Negi's voice had dropped but the threat level was three times what it had been before. The murderous intent was now coming off the Thousand Master's son in waves and Fate realized he might have said too much. The platinum-haired man assumed a stance and willed a number of large, black-stone pillars to form around him.

"I suppose a battle between the two of us is just as well right now," said Fate. "I also need to work off some aggression."

Negi merely grunted and sent a blast of lightning spears in reply. Fate responded immediately, moving one of the pillars down and sideways to act as a shield for himself, while launching the others at Negi. Negi leaped to one side, dodging the massive stone attack. At the same time, Negi's lightning spears had pierced Fate's defensive pillar, but hadn't touched his magical barrier. Negi circled around the damaged magical object and charged at Fate. Fate diverted Negi's initial punch, but was unable to stop Negi's left elbow from ramming into his chest. Fate was propelled backwards, and Negi fired several lightning arrows after him. Fate responded with a volley of stone spears that stalemated Negi's attack. But the white-haired mage didn't stop there. Fate formed a large stone sword in his right hand and took the offensive, forcing Negi to dodge again or be dissected by the sharpened rock.

The Shadow Hunter fell back a pace before activating a spell known as the Executioner's Sword. The magic blade extended outward from Negi's outstretched right hand, and he swung it towards Fate's weapon. Negi's spell was designed to vaporize most solids, but as Fate's rock-sword was created by magic it would not disintegrate so easily. The two blades ended up locking together as their respective wielders each applied more and more force to their attacks. After several seconds of this, the two opponents leapt backwards and again fired waves of stone spears and lightning arrows. This time a single projectile of each type came through the opposing barrage, striking its target directly in the chest. Both combatants were totally still for a moment, before Fate's body dispersed into water, and Negi's into a mixture of wind and lightning. The stone shaft that had impaled Negi's clone clattered to the ground and for a moment there was no noise at all. Smoke wafted through the atmosphere, along with the smell of freshly upturned dirt and ozone. The silence was broken when Negi and Fate reappeared, their swords once again interlocking.

"You've… become much stronger than when we fought last time, Negi Springfield," said Fate with tones of both strain and excitement.

"Well, that's good to know," Negi growled in return. "Heaven knows, I wouldn't want to disappoint you."

Fate smirked as the light from the sun vanished. Negi didn't dare take his eyes off Fate at this close range, but he could tell what was happening anyway. One of Fate's black stone pillars was closing in on him from above. As a counter-measure, Negi forced more power into his Executioner's Sword than was strictly safe, and pushed forward. Fate was caught off guard by this maneuver and took a step back. A sudden discharge of light occurred as Negi's sword broke through Fate's. But there was no time to follow up this success. Not only was Fate's pillar still closing in on him but by putting more magical energy into the spell than necessary, he had actually damaged his own hand; a retreat was unavoidable. The enormous rock slammed into the ground, narrowly missing the two combatants and throwing up a large cloud of dust. When it had cleared enough, they each stood staring at the other across the field.

"You should never overpower a spell like the Executioner's Sword, you know," said Fate, eyeing his fragmented weapon. "A cannon with too much ammunition can just as easily backfire as create a stronger attack."

"I know the rules of combat well enough," Negi retorted testily. He then pulled a small hypodermic needle out of his pocket and stuck it into the skin above his injured hand. The Executioner's Sword's secondary effect was a field of intense cold and, as such, the damage was much as if he had stuck his forearm into a tub of dry ice. But the battle was only just starting, so painkillers and a low-level healing spell to prevent any permanent damage would have to do. "Anyhow, Fate," Negi began unincantating even as he was talking. "I think it's about time you and I stopped screwing around."

Fate detected the change in the air. Having battled the Thousand Master as well as various other lightning users in his lifetime, he could tell when somebody was planning to use the Thousand Thunderbolts spell. "It would seem so," said Fate, the ring on his left index finger coming into focus. Typically hidden by a mid-level illusion, the Cosmo Entelecheia member only unmasked it when he was about to go all-out. He knew what Negi was planning. With the combination of spells inherited from his father and former master, he was capable of using a technique that let him move like a bolt of lightning, if only for an instant. It would be best to make the first move before Negi could complete his power-up.

Fate extended his right arm and fired a beam of light from his fingers. Negi ducked the beam and began running off to the side, but Fate had anticipated that. The platinum-haired man brought his ring-bearing hand down, and a wave of spikes erupted from the ground and toward Negi. Negi responded by leaping into the air and landing on the flat of one of the spikes, but when he did the pointed stones launched themselves into the air. The Shadow Hunter was forced to bend over backwards in alignment with his rock to avoid having his head speared by the spike behind his. He then slid out from in between the flying shafts, refocused his gaze on Fate, and began to descend.

As he fell Negi finished the preparations for his special move and immediately started to implement it. He extended one arm outwards and shouted out the name of his spell.

"**Thousand Thunderbolts!"**

In the same moment Negi's Magia Erebea was triggered and the lightning spell, rather than manifesting as a direct attack, was compressed into a large sphere before Negi's outstretched hand.

"_Fixate!"_

Negi reached out to grab and crush the encased magic and the Shadow Hunter saw Fate's eyes narrow and stance change.

"_Seize!"_

The sphere disappeared into Negi's palm as he absorbed the Thousand Thunderbolts and his entire being was altered.

"_Load Magic, Armament! Great Vigor of the Thunderous Sky!"_

The Thousand Master's son, now surrounded by a fantastic aura of electricity, dubbed 'Raiten Taisou', hovered in mid-air for a moment. Faster than blinking Negi was directly in front of Fate with his fist forced into his rival's cheek. The platinum-haired mage was blasted away but his body again dissolved into water as it flew through the air.

"_Well, it's not as if I expected him to just sit around and wait for me to get ready,"_ thought the Shadow Hunter Captain. Suddenly Negi felt Fate's presence off to his left. He only barely managed to activate his _Lightning-Speed Instant Movement_ in time to avoid a wave of petrifying smoke. But when Negi's physical body rematerialized out of the bolt of lightning caused by his technique he noticed something that he hadn't before; the entire battle ground had become covered in puddles of water. _"Crap!"_ Negi cursed. _"Fate teleports using water! He formed all these puddles so he could counter my movements!"_

Suddenly, Fate reappeared, delivering a roundhouse kick to his enemy's head and sending Negi several paces backward. Before reaching the end of his skid, however, Negi triggered his power and reappeared at the other end of the battlefield. Fate sank into one of his puddles in reply and resurfaced just in front of Negi with the tips of two fingers glowing. But it seemed Negi had been anticipating such a move and he responded with an attack spell that was an old favorite of his.

"**Evil Eye of Petrification!"**

"**Jupiter's Storm of Thunder!"**

The field was almost completely enveloped in a blast of light and sound.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The shockwave from this latest collision was so strong that it reached Fate's companions inside their hideout. And considering that, like Evangeline's resort at Mahora, the vast majority of this location was kept within a pocket-dimension the impressiveness of the explosion outside must have been great indeed. Homura stumbled into Shirabe, sending both girls crashing to the floor, while Koyomi and Tamaki were down on their hands and knees and Shiori clung to Tsukuyomi's arm to remain upright.

"Wow!" exclaimed Tsukuyomi, as the shaking subsided. "They're gonna change the entire environment out there if they keep that up!" The swordswoman's tone was laced with jealousy; she would've liked nothing better than to be having an environment-altering battle herself.

Predictably, the others were less awe-struck and more practical.

"I hope Fate-sama's okay," Koyomi said as she returned to her feet. "It sure doesn't sound like Springfield-san is pulling any punches."

"I don't think Fate-sama is exactly taking it easy either," commented Shirabe, disentangling herself from Homura. "I haven't felt him putting out this much power in a long time."

"It's because of Negi-han," said Tsukuyomi knowingly. "When you have a strong rival," she paused to strike a more dramatic pose, "…you're always itching with anticipation of your next encounter." She said this as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. _"Oh, Setsuna-sempai! Why did our last duel have to be cut short?"_

"Perhaps you girls should pay more attention to your surroundings."

Fate's five Ministra and his blade-wielding ally were all startled by the dark voice and words. They looked to their collective right to see the even darker speaker: Dynamis, their resident shadow mage and a senior member of Cosmo Entelecheia.

"How is it that none of you have noticed that we have additional guests?" asked the hooded figure, impatience creeping into his voice.

"A-additional guests?" stammered Shiori. "W-who else…?"

Dynamis cut her off. "It is the other three members of Negi Springfield's team of Shadow Hunters," he said. "I shall allow them to enter this room, so that there might be some true negotiations between our two groups." Then, despite several objections from the girls, the cloaked man invoked the large metallic ring on the far wall. The symbols inscribed on it lit up and caused an influx of light in the center. The light died down and settled into an ordinary doorway to and from the outdoors. The trio of Rebecca, Sati, and Herald stood before this entryway. In the background numerous plumes of smoke rose up, along with several trees. The trees themselves looked as though they had lost a substantial amount of their leaves in a short period of time.

"Yeesh!" said Sati. "Captain Negi and that other guy are really going at it over there."

"Yeah, I haven't felt them this angry since…" Herald searched around for an incident, but stopped when he realized he didn't have one. "Well, I just haven't," he finished lamely.

Rebecca ignored her two companions and took several steps inside. She cleared her throat and looked toward Dynamis. "I think I've seen you before, but we were never properly introduced."

"Yes, that's right," answered Dynamis. "That was on the occasion our two leaders had to call an emergency meeting about two and a half years ago."

"Yeah, that's right," said Rebecca, nervously running a hand through her hair. "And now Captain Negi and your leader Fate are at each others' throats." Rebecca suddenly felt nervous about asking her next question, but she knew it had to be done, and so ruthlessly stamped out her hesitation. "Please, if you could explain exactly how it was that Captain Negi's partner was killed, it would really mean a lot."

"Easy enough," stated Dynamis. He drew an oversized claw-like hand out from his sleeve and gestured to an adjacent corner of the room where several chairs stood. "Please, over here," he said.

Herald nodded, and turned back toward the opening which he had come through. "All right, while you guys talk about that, I'm gonna go back outside and watch Captain Negi's fight."

"I think I'll go as well," Sati elected. "I _really_ want to see Evangeline-sempai's special art." The two Shadow Hunters raced out the door before anyone could reply.

Tsukuyomi inexplicably started grinning. "You know, those two seem awfully young to be watching a fight like that by themselves," she said, putting a finger on her chin. "I think I should go out there with them and make sure they don't hog…I mean, get hurt in all the action." Nobody present really believed her, but then again, nobody present really tried to stop her, either, as she sprinted after her rather dubious allies.

"Battle freaks," Homura muttered, as she watched her go.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Negi and Fate's battle had moved into the sky. Negi's first Raiten Taisou had worn off and Fate had produced a second wave of pillars to launch a counterattack with. But this time Negi had jumped up on to one of the pillars before it could be fired downwards, and attacked his adversary from there.

Now the two were engaged in a martial-arts duel whose course transversed over all the pillars now floating in the air. Every once in a while a magically-enhanced punch or ultra-accelerated kick would miss its intended target and strike one of the pillars, causing fragments to break off and fall away.

"I see you've been keeping up with ordinary training methods as well, Negi-kun," Fate complimented, as he avoided a particularly nasty elbow attack.

"Of course," said Negi, blocking the return blow. "Ordinary fist fighting is the basis for all combat." The Shadow Hunter and Fate both swung said fists at this interval, each striking the other in the head. The two were forced apart with visible injuries from the exchange. Fate's left cheek sported an angry red mark and a thin line of blood ran from Negi's mouth. After taking a moment to lap up his own blood Negi spoke again. "You could have all the supernatural powers in the world and you'd still be basically helpless without the knowledge of how to use them."

Fate grunted. "I believe you became angry with me earlier for stating the obvious about the rules of battle," said the platinum-haired mage with a frown. "The saying is that the pot shouldn't call the kettle black, correct?"

Negi smirked and raised his fist. Fate braced himself, expecting another attack, but to his surprise the Shadow Hunter directed his blow downwards. The punch caused deep cracks to appear at the point of impact and a second strike enabled Negi to essentially burrow through the entire structure. Fate quickly moved to the other side of the artificial object, but was again surprised to see Negi had not yet stopped. He had continued moving through several of the pillars until he was out of the field entirely. When Cosmo Entelecheia's leader caught sight of his foe again, he understood why he had undertaken all the trouble.

"_He's trying to put distance between us,"_ realized Fate. _"He's hoping to use Raiten Taisou again."_ Fate gestured both his arms outward and took hold of all the pillars, damaged or otherwise, with a telekinetic force. _"It was certainly a pain trying to keep up with it before, so I should probably stop it altogether this time."_

By Fate's will, each of the jet-black stones turned towards, and then sped after, Negi. Between the rapidly-approaching ground and the even more rapidly approaching pillars, the mercenary found his escape route completely cut off. His only chance for survival now would be the very attack he was powering up for. It would be cutting it awful close though…

Several pillars impacted around Negi, and the remainder came down to crush him into paste. But before that happened, Fate, from his position far above, saw the symbols on Negi's arms flare up once again and twin balls of compressed lightning erupt from both his hands. In an instant Fate discerned the full extent of his enemy's plan but also knew it was already too late to stop him.

"Both Arms Seize!"

The platinum-haired mage no longer paid any attention to the results of his previous attack and instead focused on bringing up his strongest magical barriers, and watching his surroundings. He heard the pillars smash into the ground far below, as well as a faint noise that sounded somewhat like static electricity. Of course Fate knew that that second sound was Negi and was by far the more important of the two.

The chief problem with Negi's Raiten Taisou was that it only afforded its user physical enhancement, not mental. In other words when one activated the _Lightning-Speed Instant Movement_ only one's body was moving at one-hundred-thirty-thousand-miles-per-hour; one's perceptions and reflexes remained at human levels. Additionally, the technique required the use of wind magic to properly control its trajectory as well as producing streams of positively charged energy at the destination, just like its counterpart in nature. These two weaknesses together had previously allowed Fate to counter Negi's attacks through the use of a more common teleportation spell.

That would not work now that Negi had deployed his technique's augmentation, the Raiten Taisou II.

Negi was once again eye-level with Fate, and once again his body was emitting the electrical aura. But this time was slightly different; this time his body had been slightly altered by the power-up, as well. The hair on the back of his head had grown outwards to an almost absurd length, and seemed almost to be magnetically repelled away from his skin, so that it constantly remained in midair. Suddenly Negi rammed his foot into Fate's barrier, forcing him backwards. An instant later, Negi was behind Fate, launching another attack that broke though the first layer of the shield.

"_I can only imagine how hard Aleric must have pushed Negi-kun to come up with this technique,"_ Fate thought as he attempted to defend himself. His barrier was now getting pounded from all sides as Negi swiftly zapped around the area surrounding him. _"The Raiten Taisou created using the Dark Evangel's Magia Erebea and the Thousand Thunderbolts is already an excellent technique, but to apply a second layer of it to enhance one's mental reactions as well…"_ Fate's train of thought was interrupted when one of Negi's blows penetrated deep enough to strike his chest and send him flying through the air, _"…it's like transforming from a normal human into a genuine spirit of lightning. It is truly a fearsome move."_

But even so, Negi's opponent was Tertium "Fate" Averruncus, the strongest of the Mage of the Beginning's soldiers in Cosmo Entelecheia. He was still far from beaten.

Fate stabilized and slowed his flight to a stop before turning to face his rival again. After sparing a second to repair some of the damage done to his barrier, the white-haired mage used a _Mid-air Ground Contractor_ to charge straight at Negi. As expected, the Shadow Hunter Captain used his far superior high-speed movements as a counter, but almost immediately he knew that something was off. He had intended to appear directly in front of Fate, but his technique had missed somehow, landing him a full three feet out of arms' length of his enemy. Fate did not pause, moving forward and taking a swing at Negi. Negi dodged this attack, as to him it was occurring in slow motion, but again he suffered a mishap. He had intended to use the _Lightning Speed Instant Movement_ to move exactly seven point two meters northwest of his current position, but this time the technique had not occurred at all. Very suddenly Negi realized _why_ it had not worked: Fate had taken advantage of the Raiten Taisou II's one remaining weakness.

Even if he was moving, thinking, and reacting as fast as lightning, he still needed the use of his wind spells in order to control his destination point. Fate had begun using wind magic of his own. Granted, he wasn't as well-versed a practitioner as Negi or certainly Rebecca, but he was proving proficient enough to interfere with Negi's atmospheric manipulations.

"_If it weren't so vexing, I'd be impressed,"_ thought Negi. _"I haven't been able to put one over on Fate since Kyoto."_

Fate abruptly raised his right hand and fired off a beam at Negi, forcing him to dodge more normally. When the attack had ended Negi turned a sideways glance toward a distant part of the ground and beckoned with his arm as though summoning someone. In a moment, something could be seen rising upwards and flying toward Negi at a high rate of speed. It was the staff Negi had been given by his father when they had first met. Negi had clearly left it somewhere before starting the fight, and Fate was rapidly trying to figure out why he would call for it now.

"Preparing for some grand finale, Negi-kun?" asked Fate.

"No," Negi answered, taking hold of his family heirloom. "I just thought it would be fitting to defeat you while holding this staff. After all, your previous two losses were to the person who wielded this, right?"

Fate smirked icily. "If you think that's going to provoke me into doing something rash, you're only half right." Cosmo Entelecheia's leader willed three stone lances into being. "It will provoke me, but not into error."

Now was Negi's turn to smirk. "We'll see," he said.

The two charged at each other one final time, colliding in midair. Fate punched at Negi's face, but Negi caught him by the wrist. Negi's touch burned due to still being in his Raiten Taisou II form, but Fate fought off the pain and brought his three lances in on his foe. Negi whirled his staff, knocking two of the lances away, with the third landing a grazing blow on his shoulder. Fate then punched with his other fist, striking Negi squarely in the stomach. The blow drove the air from Negi's lungs and sent him falling from the sky. Fate followed, directing his three lances to go first. This decision would prove sage, as the Shadow Hunter fired three lightning spears as he fell, to stalemate the ones made of rock.

"Almost," said Fate, suddenly right on top of Negi, "but not good enough!" Negi tried to bring up his staff to shield himself, but Fate grabbed hold of it as well before striking Negi in the face. The two had nearly reached ground level. Fate raised his fist again to land a finishing strike on Negi's chest at the moment of impact. "And for the record, Negi-kun," Fate said with a hint of annoyance, "the last time I fought the person with this staff it was a tie."

Then the embattled pair at last struck the earth. Fate's final punch caused several stone shafts to erupt from the ground, looking almost like an enormous, petrified flower. But in the micro-second before this attack connected, when Negi was just barely suspended in-between Fate's arm and the dirt of the battlefield, the Thousand Master's son managed to activate the _Lightning Speed Instant Movement_. Even with all the chaos of the moment Negi had found a pocket of air that he could use for his technique and escaped. Now, with about a meter's distance between them and their backs turned to one another, both Negi and Fate started to cut around, each boy spinning to his left.

There was a flash and a crash and suddenly the battle was over.

Negi stood with one foot firmly pinning Fate to the gently sloping ground, while the platinum-haired mage had seized the shin of his rival's other leg, threatening to topple him over. The gazes of the two combatants were interlocked and blazing with such intensity that one might think their fight had only just started. But most impressive of all were the weapons that each one had summoned in the final instant of the battle. Negi had materialized a lance of solid lightning around his staff and Fate had called a single stone spear out of the earth. The sharpened blade on Negi's lance was held to the side of Fate's skull, and Fate's sharpened rock had come so close to turning Negi into a shish-kabob that it had already lightly perforated the skin on the left side of his chest.

"It seems… we are at an impasse," said Fate after an eternal moment. "If we complete these final attacks, we'll both die as fools."

"Certainly can't argue with you there," said Negi, letting out a long breath. "But…" There was a pause. "Answer me one thing before I put my weapon away."

"All right," answered Fate.

"Did you actually try to keep Haruna alive?"

Fate closed his eyes. "I did try," he said. "However…I failed because of the interference of Tredecim."

Negi's eyes narrowed and he clenched his teeth. "Tredecim," Negi muttered, not moving. "Master Aleric told me a little bit about her. He told me that she was a deserter from your group." Fate nodded once. "Master Aleric also showed me evidence to indicate that she was responsible for the theft attempt that resulted in my being sent away from Mahora." Negi slowly pulled the lightning lance away from Fate's head. "If anyone can take genuine pleasure in the death of an innocent person…," Negi paused one final time to release the magic surrounding his staff and his Raiten Taisou II, "it would definitely be her." The Shadow Hunter captain removed his foot from Fate's chest and backed away.

"So have you finally calmed down?" Fate asked, climbing to his feet.

"A bit," said Negi, breathing heavily. "But mostly the focus of my anger has just shifted, is all."

"Well, that's good enough for now," said Fate. "But I am somewhat surprised you came to find me so soon. Honestly, I was expecting you to first attend that poor girl's funeral."

"I wanted to," admitted Negi, looking down. "But Miss Harley ordered me to come here first. As it is, all I could do was send a package to Master Aleric."

"Why to him?" asked Fate. Negi opened his mouth to answer, but a distant slashing noise cut him off. Both Springfield and Averruncus turned in the direction of the sound. Scanning spells rapidly gave away who was behind it.

"Oh, no," said Negi. "I told them to wait inside of your hideout."

"Tsukuyomi-san versus your teammates Herald and Sati," commented Fate. "It was a catastrophe that was bound to happen sooner or later."

"At this point, we should probably just let them fight for a while," said Negi. "I don't think either one of us is in any condition to stop them right now."

Fate nodded. When people truly passionate about combat begin fighting, it is nearly impossible to stop them. The battle that Negi and Fate had just concluded could be taken as proof of that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Albert Chamomile, more commonly referred to as Chamo ("pervert ermine" by Asuna), was known to be a chain smoker, just like former Crimson Wing members Takamichi and Eishun Konoe. The fact that these three were out on the street together and not one of them was smoking told how somber the occasion really was. Also nearby were Evangeline, Albireo Imma, and the headmaster of Mahora, Konoemon Konoe. All of them were dressed in black business attire. They had just come from a funeral, after all. Haruna Saotome's, to be specific. All six were standing outside the Mahora cemetery where their fallen comrade had been laid to rest.

"I never imagined…" Konoemon started. He paused for a moment as he searched for the right words and eventually settling on "…that things would get this bad so quickly."

Takamichi was silent. He had previously insisted that he be the one to deliver the tragic news to Haruna's parents and he had also sat next to them at the funeral service. It would be some time before he found his voice again. It was Albireo, who was only standing with them thanks to extensive research on the part of himself and Evangeline, who answered Konoemon's statement.

"There's no real way to prepare for this kind of thing," said the pony-tailed man. "And there was no way to anticipate that Fate Averruncus and his group would be waiting at that location." Takamichi's flinch was only just perceptible but it did not escape his senior. Albireo rested a hand on the teacher's shoulder. "You mustn't blame yourself, Takamichi."

"Much as I hate to agree with the eggplant," said Eva slowly, "Saotome knew the risks better than most of the others, if not about death directly. She knew what she was getting into. I'd say that we got off light considering."

Eishun frowned. "I don't think that's going to help Takamichi-kun much, Eva-san." The vampire girl just hmphed.

"I… I wonder…" Chamo spoke up from his position on Takamichi's shoulder, "…why Aniki didn't come. His Pactio with Haruna was still active when she was… killed. He must have felt it when she died."

"You say that like you think Negi-kun has a choice in the matter," remarked Konoemon heavily. "Or if he would even want to come."

"W-what do you mean by that?" asked Chamo, trying to sound accusatory but mostly coming off as scared.

"Tredecim said that Aleric might have told Negi everything, right, Takamichi-kun?" asked Eishun. At the same moment the head of the Kansai Magic Association caught a glimmer of dark green out of the corner of his eye but did not register it.

The depressed man looked up. "Yes, that's right," said Takamichi lowly.

"If we assume 'everything' means all the knowledge of our past adventures as well as the information pertaining to both his father _and_ mother," said Albireo, "then there's no telling how Negi-kun might have turned out."

"That's part of the reason why we had agreed to keep it a secret from him," added Eishun. "At least until he'd reached full manhood. So that Negi-kun wouldn't find out before he was ready."

Konoemon opened his mouth to speak but spied something and was stopped cold. He merely stood in place for a moment with his eyes wide and mouth open. Evangeline noticed this first, followed the old man's gaze, and was immediately shocked into silence herself.

"And what constitutes full manhood in your opinions?" a deep voice asked. "Is it the strength of one's magic or mind or emotions?"

Now everyone turned in the direction Eva and the Headmaster were looking. A man was standing only a few meters away, dressed in a dark green robe and hood, and even those who had not seen the memories in the object Negi had left behind suddenly knew, beyond any doubt, who he was.

"I do not think any of those things can be used to measure manhood," said Aleric Theodosien Marcius, leader of the Shadow Hunters. "So how is it that you assume that any of you know anything about my apprentice?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Computer problems suck rocks! This chapter would have been out weeks ago if my computer hadn't gone all funky on me. I couldn't even open Microsoft Word for awhile there! So if my reviewers are still around I'd love to hear from you guys!

Again, I'm sorry about the long breaks between chapters but 'better late than never' is the saying, right? Luckily the next chapter is shorter than this one so it will probably get out faster than this one. See you then!


	24. The Unexpected

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

Murraymints999: Thank you! Not just for the kind words but for sticking with me for as long as you have. Do you realize that on the 29th this story with be two years old? You were my first reviewer ever so I'm singling you out for special thanks. I will definitely finish this story thanks to your encouragement!

HikariNoTenshi-San: You weren't surprised with the end? I hope that doesn't mean you were disappointed with it! It's just that a stalemate is the only way I could see the Negi/Fate battle ending at this point in the story. And thanks for reading and reviewing!

Midnight Finalage Throw: I wouldn't say it was cut short. I consider that more of a cliffhanger ending. And unfortunately my computer problems persist! I'll explain more after the chapter. And thanks to you for your reviews as well!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XXIV

The Unexpected

Nodoka Miyazaki was known to be a reader. Whenever she found a new book or a magazine article she liked, she would always read and then reread it several times in one sitting before she finally set it down. And nobody was better aware of this than Nodoka herself.

_~ Haruna Saotome ~_

_1988 – 2007_

_Survived by her parents and many loyal friends _

_Never to be forgotten_

It made her wonder why she kept scanning over the words on Haruna's gravestone despite that each time she did the wretched feelings she'd experienced at her friend's deathbed would attack her all over again.

"Nodoka?"

The purple-haired college student started at the sound of Yue's voice. She turned to see the other surviving member of the Library Trio in a full-length black dress, hesitantly reaching out for her shoulder. Nodoka saw the worry in Yue's eyes and tried to think of something to say.

"Yes, Yue?" she asked. Even in her own ears, Nodoka's voice sounded somewhat dead.

The normally stoic and confident Ayase girl wavered a moment before speaking.

"W-well, it's just that everybody else is leaving now and… maybe we should get going too," said Yue, clearly anxious.

Nodoka looked down at the grave marker and the rectangular patch of upturned dirt it stood above. It wasn't more than an hour ago that she had watched them lower the casket that held Haruna – no, Haruna's body – into that part of the ground. Nodoka smiled grimly as a tear formed in her left eye. A single drop that represented a sea.

"Y-yes, we should be leaving," said Nodoka, banishing the tear with her finger. A sliver of genuine peace entered her face as she did this. "After all, Paru did tell us not to get angsty."

Yue was both relieved and amazed by her friend's response. Relieved because it meant that this horrid thing that had happened had not changed who Nodoka was on the inside; amazed because there had been a time when she never would have thought Nodoka could be so strong. Yue had always considered herself the cool sensible member of their group, while Nodoka had been the gentle one who always had to believe the best about others. Yue had been very afraid that their mutual friend's death would destroy Nodoka's world view. It had certainly shaken hers. But now Nodoka was showing previously unknown stores of courage and emotional durability that surprised even her best friend.

"_Certainly shows which one of us has the stronger will,"_ thought Yue in self-reproach. _"And to think I actually thought that _I_ was the one who was better prepared for something like this. How could I be so ridiculously arrogant?"_

Yue heard her friend's voice from somewhere far off but didn't register it. After a few moments, Nodoka spoke a second time, which had the same result. At the third try, the words were accompanied by a firm yank on one of Yue's pigtails. "Yue, are you listening to me?"

Yue shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, what?"

Nodoka seemed somewhat irritated, but didn't let it stop her. "I was saying that Kazumi-san and Makie-san seemed to be acting a little strange during the ceremony."

Yue cocked an eyebrow. "Strange how?" she asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," answered Nodoka, now sounding nervous. "It was like they were… distracted." When Yue gave her friend a look that told her to elaborate she did so. "I mean, Makie-san and Kazumi-san kept glancing over their shoulders and looking off to the side like they were looking for someone." Here Nodoka hesitated. "It's just that… during a funeral… that sort of behavior is…"

"Very peculiar," finished Yue, nodding. "Perhaps we should ask them. I think they're over by the gate with the others."

The two friends walked along the cemetery pathway towards an iron-barred gateway. Only Asuna, Setsuna, and Mana had remained behind, as it turned out. All the others, which included Kazumi, Makie, and virtually every member of the former Class 3-A, had gone on ahead to the restaurant _Chao-Bao-Zi_. The two swordswomen and the sniper were currently having a rather downtrodden conversation.

"I just hope Ojou-sama doesn't get into the alcohol," Setsuna was saying.

"I think that's a lost cause," Mana replied. "They were never able to stop our class from getting into the booze. Even when we were back in middle school."

"My point is that I don't think intoxicating beverages will help Kono-chan's mood," said Setsuna sternly.

"Yeah, that and the last time Konoka got smashed she tried to take your pants off," said Asuna, giving her friend a sidelong glance.

Setsuna's pale face flared red like a stoplight. "You promised you'd never speak about that again!" she hissed indignantly. Yue would have loved to see where this conversation might have led, but decided to interrupt, if for no other reason than to save Setsuna further embarrassment.

"Stimulating conversation here, girls," she said. "But I need to ask something."

Setsuna, who was looking intensely relieved, answered, "Yes, fire ahead then!"

"Did any of you notice Makie-san or Kazumi-san acting strangely?" Yue asked. She now fervently hoped that their former classmates had been acting strangely and she wasn't just casting aspersions.

"Yeah, I did," said Mana. "They were behaving like they were expecting someone else to show up. But outside of Chisame Hasegawa, who didn't show up at all, I can't think who it might have been."

"It's really weird that Chisame-san didn't come," said Asuna. "I mean I know Chisame didn't exactly enjoy Haruna's company, but still…"

"Yes, it is," said Setsuna. Her suspicious tone spoke volumes all by itself. "But Makie and Kazumi went back to Satsuki-san's place with the others."

"Well, it's nothing urgent," said Nodoka in a placating voice. "We just wanted to ask them if there was anything…hmm?" Nodoka stopped as she saw a sudden stiffening in Mana's facial structure. In a moment Mana's hands were moving toward the two sidearms she kept strapped to her thighs. "T-Tatsumiya-san? W-what are you…?"

Asuna and Setsuna turned around as Nodoka and Yue followed Mana's gaze. All four of them felt their blood change to ice when they saw who had entered the cemetery gate.

Standing there, garbed in his unmistakable dark green cloak, was the man known as Aleric.

They had only ever seen the Shadow Hunter leader in projected memories, and so were unprepared to meet him live and in person. His physical presence seemed to make the air of the graveyard tingle; it might have merely been the utter shock the girls felt at his arrival, or it could have been some secret magic he had surrounded himself with - there was no way to know. When Aleric trained his spring-green gaze on their five-some, Yue had to admit that for the first time in a long time she was intimidated. There was something lurking behind his eyes. Yue couldn't explain it but there was something there that somehow, inexplicably, reminded of her grandfather. It was a feeling of conviction and a sense of purpose so strong as to surpass anything that stood in the way. In her grandfather it had awed her: in this man it frightened her.

"Ah, well, small world." Aleric spoke after several seconds of protracted silence. "I can only assume that you ladies are a few of Negi's old students."

This, of course, was an incredible understatement. Aleric had recognized the Twilight Imperial Princess almost instantly all on his own and Negi's descriptions made it child's play to guess the identities of the others. But for the sake of common courtesy, as well as secrecy, he decided this was the best way the address them.

"Y-you…" stammered Setsuna. "You're…"

"…the leader of the Shadow Hunters…" continued Mana, fully drawing her pistols.

"…Aleric," finished Nodoka, eyes wide and hands instinctively searching for her Pactio card.

Asuna and Yue both seemed to be frozen in place, staring at Aleric with their teeth clenched and their voices completely absent.

"Well, you're certainly an articulate bunch," said Aleric, sounding amused. "Even those other guys outside the gate had more to say than that."

"HEY, WAIT!"

Said other guys were now following Aleric through the cemetery entrance. Konoemon Konoe, Takamichi with Chamo the ermine still on his shoulder, Albireo Imma, Eishun Konoe, all came rushing after the Shadow Hunter with Evangeline in the lead.

Aleric chuckled. "Boy, you guys don't listen very well, do you? Either that or you're just highly distrustful."

"Do you take us for idiots?" demanded Konoemon. "Not only are you probably THE most powerful soldier-for-hire this world has ever seen but you come here questioning our judgments and decisions. Now you expect us to just stand aside and let you roam about as you please?"

"Well, I wasn't expecting it, but I was kinda hoping…"

"You have a lot of nerve," growled Eishun. "After telling Negi-kun what he was not to know until…"

"Do we have to go through that again?" Aleric interrupted. "In my opinion, Negi _was_ ready to hear about his parents. Now, as I told you before I am merely here to deliver something and I would appreciate it if you would let me do that before you start badgering me."

"Heh, 'deliver something'," scoffed Chamo. "What on earth could a big-villain type like you want to bring here?"

Aleric's expression hardened. He reached into the folds of his cloak and withdrew a single, thin object with two fingers. "This," he said, now aggravated. Haruna Saotome's full picture stood in the center of the card Aleric now held, one hand holding her artifact sketch book and the other, the quill pen that came with it. "Negi asked me to bring this here for him. He couldn't be here because he is currently…ah, inquiring of Fate Averruncus as to why one of his old students is gone."

There was a stunned silence that was broken when Asuna blurted, "That's Haruna-chan's Pactio card!"

"Yes, it is," said Aleric somewhat flatly. "I'll say this again—I came here to put this on your friend's gravesite. I would appreciate it if you would let me do that before you start an inquisition."

A wave of annoyance passed through the group assembled before Aleric, and it only increased as he turned his back on them and started up the cemetery path. Noiselessly, each of them began to follow behind the Master Mage, fingering their weapons, Pactio cards, or unincantating spells. When they arrived back at Haruna's headstone, Aleric knelt down before it. He rested the powerless card against a blank space on the stone and held it there with a single finger. Then a light surrounded both the card and Aleric's hand before fading. When it had gone, so too had the card, but its shape and the picture that had still been on it had been embedded into the headstone.

Aleric stood. "From Negi's description of her I can't say that your friend and I would have gotten along," he said, not looking at those he was addressing. "But such things don't really matter now." Aleric turned back towards the group and looked to Chamo. "Now, I should like to know what you meant when you called me a 'big-villain' type."

"What?" asked Chamo, startled.

"You heard," said Aleric. "What did you mean when you called me a 'big-villain' type? Do you mean that you consider me one of those self-styled Dark Lords that sit alone in their storm-surrounded towers all day? Or perhaps you're thinking I'm a conniving scheming politician who's plotting to usurp absolute political power. Well, let me set your mind at ease. What I taught Negi is not a terrible thing."

"Not a bad thing, you say?" said Albireo, sounding highly skeptical. "I'm not so sure about that."

"That's a load of bull!" Asuna added. "Negi wasn't anything at all like he was when he taught here, thanks to you!"

Aleric raised an eyebrow. "Really? From what he told me of your behavior toward him when he was here four years ago, you could only consider this an improvement." A look of confusion passed over the redhead as Aleric continued. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you would physically strike Negi whenever he did something to displease you."

A blush appeared across Asuna's face and she sputtered, but she powered on regardless. "T-that's none of your business!" she exclaimed. "Sure I got annoyed with him sometimes but…"

"Whatever you taught Negi-sensei changed him," Nodoka finished. "From what I saw, it wasn't a change for the better." Nodoka took a deep breath to steel herself for what came next. "Before he met you, Negi-sensei wasn't the kind of person…"

"Oh, come now, dear girl," said Aleric, shaking his head. "Negi was only ten years old when you first met him. You can't possibly expect a person to have fully matured at the age of ten. A lot changes in four years."

"Especially when you deliberately give the youngster forbidden knowledge," snapped Konoemon.

Now Takamichi stepped forward, speaking for the first time. "The Crimson Wing and all of its allies all agreed that Negi-kun shouldn't be told about his mother until he was ready. I know for a fact that he wasn't what anyone else would have considered ready when you first met him, and you told him anyway."

"Yes, an orphan boy shouldn't know about the woman that bore him simply because the Crimson Wing says so," Aleric said with not a little scorn. "Heaven knows heroes are never wrong, and kids don't have a right to the truth."

"You've got a lot of nerve talking so righteous," sneered Mana. "I'm also a mercenary. We fight and kill for money without concerning ourselves with what is ultimately good or bad. People like us don't have the right to talk about our own beliefs because we don't take the beliefs of others into consideration."

Asuna stared at Mana for a moment, surprised by her friend's statement, then turned back to Aleric. She had no idea what this stuff about Negi's mother was coming up for, but she did know something the others hadn't confronted their enemy about yet.

"Yeah!" she said, supporting Mana's previous statement. "You've got all those big shot magic organizations wrapped up in your conspiracy too, haven't you?" She wracked her memory for a second before saying, "Project Infinity, right? That's what you're working on, isn't it?"

Aleric's face contorted and suddenly the world around changed. The sun overhead no longer seemed to bring warmth nor light and the sounds of everyday life, the singing of the birds, the whispering of the wind, and the faint breathing of the surrounding people, had been muted. Then the enormous shadow of some unnamed beast rose up behind Aleric and immediately the narrowed eyes of the Shadow Hunter leader cut into the hearts of the gathering before him. It was as if, for a brief moment, Aleric's eyes represented everything that humans despise and flee from; darkness, weakness, loneliness, pain, and even death itself were all reflected. Then Evangeline advanced and swiped her arm through the air. Instantly everything became normal again.

Takamichi, Konoemon, Eishun, and Albireo all recovered quickly but their younger counterparts were not so lucky. Nodoka had taken several steps back and was panting heavily with one hand over her heart. Asuna was much the same except that she had dropped to one knee. Yue stood where she was, her limbs shaking. When she saw how visibly her right hand was trembling she used her other to steady it. Chamo had jumped away and was now behind Takamichi's leg, his fur on end. Even Mana and Setsuna, two of the most combat experienced members of their former class, had been shaken by whatever had just happened.

"_Damn it!"_ Mana cursed silently. Several of her fingers were twitching and it was actually taking a conscious effort on her part to control it. _"What the hell was that just now? Nothing's ever affected me like that before! Was it just his anger? Or…"_

"_No,"_ thought Setsuna at the same time. She had only been able to draw her sword halfway from its sheath. _"This feeling… it can't be explained simply because of murderous intent! Was it some kind of spell?"_

"Well," began Eva slowly, "I have to admit I underestimated you, Aleric. I never thought a human would be able to master the forbidden fear magic so thoroughly."

"It was far from easy," answered Aleric. "But I confess that I underestimated you as well. I didn't really think it was possible for outsiders to find out about Project I." Aleric heaved a sigh. "For all my precautions I've obviously overlooked something." The master mage then turned to stare off into empty space. "What do you make of it, Kevin?"

At the question a second cloaked figure popped into existence alongside Aleric. The cloak was tan and the man it was wrapped around had eyes that were such a light shade of red they were almost pink.

"I think that hacker Tess's team brought in must have penetrated farther than we thought," said Aleric's Minister Magi. "Negi's former partners are proving problematic, aren't they?"

"Right," agreed Aleric.

It took several seconds for the full implications of this statement to sink in. Eventually Yue found her tongue. "I had wondered why Chisame-san hadn't shown up here," she said as steadily as possible. "Apparently it's because you guys caught her not long after she sent us that information."

"Normally I'd try to phrase it more gently, but I don't see any point in beating around the bush right now," said Aleric. He took a deep breath. "Yes, it's true. The woman known as Chisame Hasegawa is now our prisoner. She is currently being held at our headquarters."

Events happened quickly then. Just as Aleric opened his mouth to say something else, Kaede Nagase appeared in mid-air just behind him, a kunai knife in one hand and her massively oversized shuriken in the other. At the same time Ku Fei arrived just off Aleric's left, crouched into an extremely solid stance and reared back her fist to deliver a vicious blow to his jaw. The two Shadow Hunters reacted immediately. Kevin spun a hundred-and-eighty degrees around, using both hands to catch Kaede by the wrist of the arm she was attacking with. Before the kunoichi's feet even had time to touch the ground Kevin had given her a mighty shove and pushed her backward through the air. Meanwhile Aleric had caught Ku's _Ki_-enhanced punch with one hand and no visible strain. The martial artist was so surprised by this that she backed off momentarily to regroup, but soon found herself even more bewildered.

Asuna, recovered from the fear magic, sensing an opening, and enraged by Aleric's statement, charged ahead. She summoned her greatsword and began to take a mad swing at Aleric when someone else suddenly appeared between them. Asuna froze in mid-stride; the person with reddish-orange hair that now stood in her way was among the last she would have ever expected.

"Ma… Makie-chan?" stuttered Asuna.

"Hi, Asuna-chan," said Makie with none of her usual enthusiasm. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you attack Aleric-sensei."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was well known to all Shadow Hunters that, while their leader had three partners, it was Harley who was Aleric's favored and true partner. That was why she was designated as the organization's second-in-command. That was why when she brought two strangers to the Shadow Hunters' hidden island base nobody really thought to question her. Still, friendly outsiders were not something the inhabitants of this location were used to; the Hunters' family members were not typically allowed to know that such a base even existed. The risk of a security leak through a loose-lipped relative was simply too high. So the arrival of Nekane Springfield and Anya Cocolova resulted in many curious stares.

Of course the outlandish pair were doing a fair amount of staring themselves. Not that you could really blame them; the Shadow Hunter base was unlike anything either one of them had ever seen before.

The main building had a look that suggested it had been cast from a mold rather than built up from the ground. Its exterior was the color of silver steel that seemed to be giving off more of a shine than just the glare from the sun could produce. By night the glow would be far more perceptible, the fortress walls providing almost as much light as the moon overhead. But of greater fascination in the daylight was its shape. It appeared quite similar to those stacking ring toys that young babies play with; the bottom of the building was a rounded circular structure that was fused to the one above it and continued on until it reached the tower at the building's summit. The tower itself was also rounded, eventually narrowing into what looked to be an observation platform. From random points on the building's rounded edges, spikes extended out into space. At the tip of each of these was a ball of light that was either red, green, or maroon in color. Any windows that could be seen were small and darkly tinted.

Anya had never been to the Magic World, but she doubted she would have seen anything like this even in that realm. "Nice place you have here," she said to Harley, sounding sarcastic. "What time will the mother ship be coming back for you?"

Harley permitted herself a small smile at the jab. "I'll be the first to admit it looks rather peculiar, but I can also tell you that I pity anyone that tries to attack or escape from us here. Fortress Ragnarök is as close to impregnable as it is possible to be."

Nekane frowned. "Does that apply to us as well?" she asked with a morbid curiosity.

Harley turned so she could look Nekane straight in the eye. "No, it does not," she said very firmly. "The two of you are considered guests here and you will be treated as such. You are free to leave if you wish. Of course if you do you won't be able to talk to Negi when he gets back, but it's your call."

Nekane's frown deepened and Harley observed the slightest flexing of the muscles in her hand. In truth the blond girl would normally have loved the chance to explore such an exotic-looking location but right now a number of more dire concerns were eating away at her thoughts. Chief among those was the cousin who was like her brother. She already knew about the sudden death of one of Negi's old partners and that he had rushed off to find out why it had happened, but she couldn't help but wonder why… "Why Negi isn't back yet?" Yes, exactly… hey! Nekane snapped up her gaze again – she hadn't even realized she'd looked down – to meet Harley's.

"No, I didn't read your mind," the Huntress assured the other girl, "you're kinda the type that wears their heart on their sleeve." Nekane blushed, and Harley smirked, stretching out a hand to rest on Nekane's shoulder. "Listen, Negi is perfectly capable of taking care of himself and he also has his team with him. He WILL be back here in a little while, and you two can talk things out then, all right? Scout's honor!"

"You're a scout?" asked Nekane with a raised eyebrow, sounding skeptical.

"No, but I've got a cousin who's a den mother. That's got to count for something, right?"

Nekane laughed lightly. Anya seemed slightly less convinced.

"Why should we take your word about anything?" the fire-user asked. "A lot of what I heard about you Shadow Hunters is that you like to stab your clients in the back. How do you explain that?"

To Anya's surprise, Harley chuckled. "You want to know about the guys that we double-crossed? They deserved it. Most of those characters were big-time crime bosses or just small-time hoods looking to pass on their dirty work to us." Harley shook her head, as if remembering old times. "What happened with most of them is we ended up faking that we did the assigned mission so we could get paid! To this day I don't think anybody has a complete record of what we've actually done except us."

Anya was making a strong effort to remain incredulous but not quite strong enough to keep the corners of her mouth from twitching upwards. "Heh, is that so?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," said the older woman, returning the smile. "When you cheat a cheater you can be sure he'll never call the cops." Just then Harley spotted something off in the distance. It was something that could not be categorically classified as good or bad, going on Harley's mixed expression of amusement and worry. "You two met Margaret, right, Margaret Falcon? She was at the hideout where the, ah, incident occurred." Now she started talking faster and wasn't even waiting for an answer. "Well, you're about to meet her children, and if you brace yourselves, get your wands ready, and make sure you change into a fresh pair of undies afterward, you may survive the experience undamaged."

"Huh?" asked both Nekane and Anya as they tried to find what Harley was looking at. Unfortunately the two visitors did not turn their attentions skywards. Had they, they might have avoided being knocked face first into the dirt by what appeared to be a pair of toddlers in freefall.

"Miss Harley! Miss Harley!" chanted the two young children. "Who're these strange ladies?"

"They're Negi's friends," said Harley, glancing down at Anya and Nekane. Anya's arms and legs were flailing about in a vain attempt to free herself and giving her a striking resemblance to an overturned cockroach. Nekane had simply raised her head so she could see something other than soil. The expression on the exposed portion of her face left no doubt as to her train of thought.

"_Why me?"_

Harley cleared her throat. "Now, Alfred and Valarie, I want you two to get off of them or I'll have to change dessert to Brussels sprouts with whipped cream."

With an overdramatic gasp Valarie and Alfred hopped away, leaving Nekane and Anya to stagger back to their feet. Once they got a look at the Shadow Hunter offspring, they were surprised; these two couldn't have been more than six or seven years old.

"You wouldn't _really_ do that, would you, Miss Harley?" asked Alfred, holding his sister, who seemed to be on the verge of tears just from the idea of whipped-cream-topped Brussels sprouts.

"Only if you had refused to get off our guests," answered Harley with a tired smile. "Now perhaps you two should apologize. Then maybe I'll let you guys and Donald show them around the rest of the island, because I have somewhere else to be."

"Okay!" chirped Alfred and Valarie. "We're sorry!"

"Uh—it's all right," said Anya.

"T-that's quite all right," added Nekane. She was about to tell the children her name and ask for theirs when she noticed a new and strange sensation. Something moist and warm was creeping up her leg. She jerked her head down and realized with a shriek that there was a long, slimy tongue wrapped around her shin and reaching for her thigh. At the same moment, Anya screamed as well. A second tongue had coiled itself around her wrist and was moving towards her hair. The feeling of horror only intensified for the hapless duo as they spotted at least eight more tongues waving about in the air and moving in their general direction. And each one of the slimy appendages was leading back to an enormous, open-mouthed worm that appeared to have burrowed up out of the ground.

"What the hell is this thing?" screeched Anya. Harley just sighed, and little Valarie elected to answer.

"Oh, don't worry about him," she said, sounding every bit as innocent as her age. "He's Don's pet, he won't hurt you. But he will try to eat your clothes if you let him, so…" Valarie didn't get to finish the rest of her sentence, because right at that moment her brother's giant pet worm lifted both Anya and Nekane into the air and started to crawl away with them.

"HELP!" yelled Anya.

"Let us down!" called Nekane. She, having been grabbed by the leg, was also occupied with trying to keep her skirt up.

"That's a bad boy, Bennie!" Alfred shouted after the building-sized worm. "Miss Harley said you're not supposed to feed off guests!" Both children then took off at a frantic run, trying to catch up with their older brother's errant pet.

Harley stood alone in the field for a moment, trying to decide whether she should go after the group as well. Then she received a telepathic message from inside the base, and the decision was made for her.

"_Harley, it's time,"_ said Hans' voice in her head. _"The prisoner is ready to be interrogated. I'd really rather you do it, but if I have to…"_

"No, no, I'm on my way," said Harley out loud. She spared one last fleeting glance in the direction of the rapidly retreating worm. "I just hope those two don't hate us too much when they get free of Falcon's family pet."

Then the raven-haired woman invoked a teleportation spell, and she appeared in the prison area of the fortress. After locating the correct cell door, she promptly opened it, stepped inside, and slammed it behind her. Chisame Hasegawa was sitting on the cell bunk, looking extremely put out. She looked up as Harley entered.

"Oh, great," she said. "So now the weirdo lady in charge has shown up. This day keeps getting more and more surreal by the second."

"If you'd rather your life be normal," started Harley, "then why did you bother hacking one of our computers? Any idiot could tell that would only lead to trouble."

"I was blackmailed," replied Chisame, "by that damn robot girl from my old class. You'd think that after we graduated they could leave me in peace." Harley leaned forward with her eyebrows knitted and a smirk firmly in place.

"You're a liar," Harley spat. Chisame looked up, surprised. "Anybody who would hold onto a Pactio contract for as long as you have with no contact from their Magister wants their life to be anything but ordinary."

"W-what are you talking about?" hissed Chisame, now officially freaked out. "You think I actually _want_ my life to be part of some stupid fantasy world full of magic and crazy situations like this?" The orange-haired girl swiped a hand through the air. "I've just been wanting to get back to reality ever since I met that damn brat!"

Harley's expression became somewhat dangerous. She held out a hand as if to catch something, and then spoke aloud. "Hans," she said, "send me the Guy on Guy porn magazines."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alexander Titov sat atop the great dragon Gaul as he flew above the continent of Eridium. Down below was a line of mountains that served as the dividing ground between a vast desert and the famed Cerberus Jungle. Alexander dimly made out the city of Hecates rising out of the sand on the desert side of the mountains, but that view was suddenly cut off as Gaul took a wide turn toward the jungle. This was not a scheduled detour, but it did not bother Alexander. He had foreseen something unexpected about this trip.

Gaul made a beeline for the ground, pulling out of the nosedive only when he got to the jungle's canopy. There was an agonized cry that lasted only a second before Gaul clamped down his massive jaws on the smaller dragon he had sensed and determined to be lunch. He began to eat and fly at the same time, sending several body parts falling down into the jungle, where they were quickly set upon by scavengers.

"Gaul," said Alexander, trying to sound conversational, "you do realize how disgusting that is from my perspective, don't you?"

The dragon tossed his kill into the space above his head before replying. "Taste is in the mouth of the beholder," said the victorious carnivore. He again snatched his meal out of the air and shook off several of its now-exposed bones.

"I suppose I should be grateful that the people we're going to meet live in the frontier wilderness," said Alexander in resignation. "So this sort of gruesome cannibalism shouldn't bother them."

This time Gaul didn't bother to try and talk clearly and simply spoke while chewing large clumps of soft tissue. "Dis is not cannibalism," he slurred. "Ah'm not the same species ob dragon as dis weakling!"

"True enough, I suppose," said Alexander. "You're an Old World dragon, after all. One of the few dragons left that would not be affected by the 'Code of the Lifemaker'."

"Wad does da Code have to do wid anyting?" asked Gaul, still chewing. "Ah mean duh whole reason a lot of our Magic World contacts are going along wid Aleric is dat we won't have to bodder wit dat at all."

"It still holds great importance," said Alexander. "The Code was the source of this world, and my foresight predicts that it will yet have an important role to play."

Gaul finally finished with his prey item and tossed the leftovers, that is to say the skeleton, horn, intestines, and brain, away. "Well, little Negi won't like that at all, will he?" said the dragon, sounding slightly amused and licking the blood off his front teeth. "After all, he was so looking forward to not having Princess Asuna tangled up in any of this, wasn't he?" The blue-robed mage didn't reply.

Now the two Shadow Hunters had come back to cloud level and were moving back towards the mountains. Specifically, they were going there to meet with a gathering of people from the surrounding lands who were sympathizers to their cause. Over the past week, the two of them had been traveling all over the Magic World organizing such beings, so that when Aleric and the main forces arrived from the Old World they would be a coherent and effective support division. Without that, pulling off Project I would be twice if not three times as hard. And as an extra hurdle Alexander and Gaul needed to perform this mission in as covert a manner as possible. The senators of Megalomesenbria, the members of the Hellas Empire's royal family, the Mage Knights of Ariadne, and the general public all had to remain in the dark about the Shadow Hunters' activities. Until its completion Project I would seem to most of them to be nothing more than a plan by some greedy upstarts to acquire power that was not rightfully theirs.

How appearances deceive…

Alexander picked out the spot among the crags below where the meeting was to take place and directed Gaul to land there. The dragon then blatantly disregarded his companion's request for a gentle landing by folding his wings mid-flight and simply allowing himself to drop like an oversized blackened rock. The impact created when Gaul's feet hit the rocky soil of the mountainside caused a good-sized tremor and sent a crunching noise echoing throughout the mountains.

Gaul let out a bark of laughter. "There, I tried to make it as gentle as I could for ya!" he said, revealing rows of his sword-like teeth in a grin. He looked over his shoulder, hoping to see a flummoxed expression, but was disappointed when he saw nothing, not even a look of indifference. "Huh? Where'd ya go?" he said, looking around. Suddenly Alexander was right in front of his nose with a smirk on his features.

"I knew you would do that," said the blue-robed man knowingly. "The time when someone is most likely to look foolish is when they are trying to look clever." Then Alexander simply turned and walked away without another word.

"Yeah, whatever you say…" began the dragon testily.

"Shorty?" Alexander cut Gaul off. The fire-drake then made an expression of outrage, but knew better than to get sucked into an argument with Alexander. There was just no contradicting somebody who could copy what you were going to say before you even said it. "Anyway, Gaul, shouldn't the Hecates cell be here soon? It would probably be a better idea if you and I were to stop squabbling and set our minds on why we're actually here."

"Mm, yeah, whatever," growled Gaul. The dragon then turned his head around, searching for any other signs of life or movement. He found none. Apparently he and Alexander were still a little early. After a few seconds he turned back to his fellow Shadow Hunter and said, "There doesn't seem to be anybody here."

"It's odd," said Alexander, sounding slightly on edge. "I could have sworn that with your little detour we would have been right on time. It…?" Alexander's body seemed to freeze as his power of foresight kicked in. In a flash, the Shadow Hunter had formed a pool of water around his feet and disappeared into it. Gaul didn't bother to question this, but instead merely braced himself for an attack. An instant later, at least fifty large swords pelted across his scales from above. Gaul's armored hide held fast against this attack, and he pushed away from his position with one of his feet in order to gain a better placement from which to take to the air. Then he felt an incredible pain in his side as somebody struck him there. The blow was monstrous, blasting the enormous dragon back into the lower atmosphere. Still, Gaul's endurance won out and he managed to stabilize himself, turning back towards plateau when he had done so.

Gaul's eyes widened and then narrowed again when he saw who was standing there. The new arrival was very tall and very muscular with dark skin and spiky blonde hair. He stood amongst the deflected swords and dented ground confident, imposing and not in the least concerned, judging by the grin that split his face. He was also the one mercenary who was more famous than any Shadow Hunter.

"Well, you're pretty tough, ain't ya?" called Jack Rakan to his still-conscious enemy. "Most guys would've been torn to bits by that combo! I guess all the hype I heard about 'the Shadow Hunter dragon' was true!"

"Thousand Blades Rakan," Gaul stated in as controlled a voice as possible. "What exactly brings you here? Do your employers have some problem with mine?"

Rakan's smile continued but he no longer showed his teeth. "Let's cut the crap, shall we? I know about you Shadow Hunters. You guys are plenty strong, so I know you don't need help from a bunch of ordinary folks with basic fighting stuff. What are you guys really trying to pull by getting all these small fry involved?"

A puddle formed on the ground before Rakan as if in reply and Alexander rematerialized out of it. "I'm afraid that is something we cannot do," he said. "But while we are on the subject of 'cutting the crap', why don't you have your friend step out into the open? An ambush will only prove effective if the target doesn't know it's coming, yes?"

"Hmm…" murmured Rakan, his smile disappearing for a moment. _"He was able to sense Kagetarou even though he was so well hidden even _I_ wouldn't have been able to find him without knowing in advance."_ Rakan took a closer look at Alexander before shrugging, smiling again, and signaling to his companion that the jig was up. _"He's… not normal."_

A second man now appeared from the protection of the shadowed rocks. His outfit was just as black as his surroundings had been and he wore a mask with a teardrop under one eye. Ribbons that looked to be made from pure darkness were curled around his arms. "I am Kagetarou of Bosporos," said Rakan's ally. "We came here hoping to defeat you quickly, but I see that is not going to be possible now."

"Don't sound so disappointed, Kage-chan," said Rakan, grin returning. "At least this way'll be a hell of lot more fun for us!" As he said this, another sword, even larger than the blades he had thrown before, came into being in his left hand.

"Whether it will or will not be more fun," stated Alexander, raising his hand and increasing the amount of water surrounding him, "it has been preordained. No use in complaining about it."

Then several things happened at once. Kagetarou moved to attack Alexander with spears of darkness but was suddenly forced to jump backwards by a blast of fire from Gaul. As the dragon lunged at his foe, who created many more shadow spears to deal with the onslaught, Alexander finished an incantation and Rakan brought his right hand into a fist and formed energy around it.

"Collapsing Sphere of Water!"

"Rakan-for-the-hell-of-it-right-hand-punch!"

The sounds of shattering rock and crashing water filled the landscape as the battle erupted with the force of a volcano.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ah, here I am again! And computer problems still suck rocks! We actually had to uninstall and then reinstall our browsers just to get this darn thing working again! But on the bright side this chapter is out a little earlier regardless, which is hopefully a sign of things to come.

But I have to get working on chapter 25 as soon as possible so I'll see you guys (if anybody's still reading this that is) next time!


	25. The Response

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

HikariNoTenshi-San: Ah, yes! People will begin to choose sides from here on. And thanks for the review!

Yipstar: Actually, I _did_ put indicators every time I had a scene change, but FanFiction had some kind of an update to its upload/text interface and all of them disappeared on me. However, I have since replaced all of them and will be using different indicators from now on so it shouldn't happen again. Thanks for reviewing!

Murraymints999: I'm not really sure how to respond to compliments like that. But you are right that many authors who start stories like this never finish. Perhaps it's sheer stubbornness that keeps me from giving up. Well whatever it is I'm glad you still enjoy this little story of mine! But I really, _really_, hope this chapter turns out alright because it has several big revelations that could mess the whole thing up if the readers don't like them!

Midnight Finalage Throw: Again I'm uncertain on how to answer compliments. I think my biggest flaw as a writer is that I have low self-esteem. Either that or the crappy computer I'm typing on right now! But there is some light at the end of that tunnel because the other members of my household have started pricing computers!

ColinatorGX: Thank You! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XXV

The Response

"Rakan Ten Thousand Blazing Fists!"

It was a testament to Alexander's skill in prognostication that he was able to dodge every one of those ten thousand fists. The Shadow Hunter had been using similar evasive maneuvers for the entire fight and it was starting to get on Rakan's nerves.

"_Damn, he's good,"_ thought the Crimson Wing member. _"I think I should have taken on the dragon instead."_

Rakan had a specialty as a hired soldier: the extermination of dangerous magical beasts. Going by this, most would have assumed that Rakan would have gone after Gaul first. However, Rakan loved rising to new challenges and heights. His entire career was based around it. So he had chosen to fight the blue-robed Shadow Hunter just to see what he could do. But now he had run into a problem.

Alexander Titov was proving to be one of the slipperiest bastards Rakan had ever encountered, even with his forty-four years of battle experience. The veteran soldier knew what his opponent was doing: using fortune-telling magic to correctly anticipate all of Rakan's attacks and successfully react to them. It was a simple enough trick, fortune-telling magic being taught to even the youngest and most junior of mages, but Alexander's skill with it was such that it could not be countered directly.

Still, there was always a way to beat 'em, and Rakan was kind of working on a tight schedule. From what he had seen, both his opponent and the dragon Kagetarou was fighting were on the same level as the Crimson Wing. Kagetarou was strong, but he wasn't that strong, and although he was holding his own for now, it would only be a matter of time before he was overwhelmed and left Rakan caught between both of the Shadow Hunters. While Rakan had enough confidence in his ability to hold his own in that situation, it would still be a pain in the ass, so he would try to avoid it while still possible.

"Your strength is truly terrifying, Rakan of the Thousand Blades," said Alexander, breaking Rakan's line of thought. "Even though I've been able to avoid all of your blows so far, I can tell that it would only take five or six to take me down for good."

Rakan smirked again. "Five or six? I was thinking maybe three or four. Somebody who does nothing but dodge all the time doesn't really have the right to brag about how well they can take a punch."

Now it was Alexander's turn to smirk. "You also live up to your reputation of not being very intelligent. I've heard snappier comebacks from my breakfast cereal."

It just so happened that Gaul overheard this part of the conversation and decided to add his two cents. "Come to think of it, he does have another nickname. What was it, the Immortal Gasbag, or…"

"It's the Immortal Fool, you insolent dragon!" snapped Kagetarou without thinking. "Show some respect for Rakan-dono, you…oh…"

Now Rakan looked unhappy. "Thanks for trying to help, Kage-chan, but from now on keep your masked mouth shut." Now even more frustrated than he had been before, Rakan transformed one of his swords into a lance, charged it with one of his energy blasts, and hurled it at Alexander. The blue-robed mage sidestepped the attack, and the weapon smashed into the mountainside, creating a nightmarish explosion.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Asuna felt as though she must be in the middle of a bad dream. Makie Sasaki was one of the most simple-minded and innocent people in the whole of her former class. She wasn't even supposed to know about magic! Yet all of a sudden, Makie had jumped to the defense of an extremely dangerous magician who she was addressing as 'Sensei' and who had just admitted to holding another member of their former class prisoner.

The whole thing was more than a little confusing. So confusing, in fact, that Nodoka had to voice Asuna's question for her. "W-what are you doing, Makie-chan?"

Makie's face formed a sad smile. "I'm helping you guys," she answered. "Aleric-sensei is very powerful. I don't think there's anyone here who could defeat him in a fight. And he doesn't have any mercy against serious opponents. I'm stopping you from committing suicide."

"But… but when did you learn about magic?" shouted Asuna, who had found her voice but not lost her confusion. "And what do you mean 'Sensei'? Don't you realize that he's…?" Asuna was about to point out the recently captured Chisame but Makie cut her off.

"Chisame-chan shouldn't have tried to steal from Aleric-sensei!" She spoke with slightly more force than before. "What he and Negi-sensei are trying to do is really important, and it has to be done without a lot of people knowing about it. What Chisame-chan did might have put everything in danger!"

"Makie is correct," Aleric supported his student. "We have no plans to harm your friend if that's what has you so worried. But we have to make sure that she won't go hacking into any of our databases anymore."

"And how do we know we can take you at your word?" asked Kaede from her position behind Aleric. Since her attack on the Shadow Hunter leader had failed she had been locked in a staring contest with his Minister Magi, Kevin. The excited gleam the kunoichi kept seeing in the tan-robed mage's eyes didn't inspire confidence that Chisame would be totally unharmed.

"Killing people is not my long-term goal," said Aleric, glancing backward for a moment. "Everything that I am doing at this moment, every alliance, every imprisonment, and unfortunately every killing, all has an important overriding purpose. That is what Project I is."

"Let's hear about this project of yours, then!" It was Eishun Konoe who erupted in anger this time. "What is this thing that the Shadow Hunters are trying to do?"

Makie opened her mouth like she wanted to answer, but closed it again and looked back to Aleric. The Shadow Hunter leader gave a small smirk, closed his eyes, shook his head and sighed. "Well, at this point, I don't suppose it would hurt to give you guys a small sample," he said. "It might even help, actually."

Aleric cleared his throat. "The explanation behind Project Infinity goes all the way back to the earliest times of my life, so you'll have to bear with me while I tell you a bit of a story." When nobody spoke or moved to interrupt, Aleric continued. "I was born twenty-five years ago to pure-blood mages in the city of Megalomesenbria, but I was brought up in this world. The reason for this is simple: by the time I was five months old, both my parents were dead. I know," Aleric said, raising his index finger, "that some of you are probably thinking that this was because of the war instigated by Cosmo Entelecheia. But with a bit of figuring with dates, you'll see that my parents died before the war."

The green-cloaked mage waited a few moments for this to sink in before going on. "Thanks to memories they left embedded in an item they left to me, I know that they perished as a result of a long-standing feud with several residents of the Hellas Empire. I'll be the first to admit that Fate Averruncus's group was one of the main driving forces behind the war that was soon to follow, but they were merely taking advantage of what was already there: the inherent animosity that the peoples of the Magic World have for one another."

"And your point is what exactly?" asked Konoemon warily.

"That is one of the largest points of Project Infinity," said Aleric with a smile. "I intend to unite the Magic World once and for all time! And I'll start by doing away with both the Confederation and the Empire!"

Expressions and feelings of shock ripped through the Shadow Hunter's audience. A few seconds of open-mouthed disbelief passed before the first reply was formed.

"You are…insane," proclaimed Albireo. "That just sounds like a plan for world domination!"

"You think you can do a better job leading that world than all the governors, senators and royalty, do you?" asked Konoemon. "You're confident that you can find the solution that all of their predecessors failed at?"

Aleric waved his hand. "Oh, no, you misunderstand," he said dismissively. "I have no intention of replacing all of the Magic World's leaders, just the ones whose ambitions have descended into greed, and may do so in the future. Let me run a few names past you—Third Princess Theodora of the Hellas Empire, Senator Ricardo of the Megalomesenbrian Senate, and Grandmaster Seras of the independent city-state of Ariadne. These are three of the people I intend to keep around." Aleric smiled again. "What I am trying to eliminate most of all is the distrust that still lingers in the hearts of both races. Since the three I just named are already friends that will just help speed things along."

"The removal of all political boundaries will begin with each nation's military force," said Kevin, finally putting in his two cents' worth. "The Empire's armies and the Confederation's armed forces will both have to be crushed. The time immediately after that will be devoted to removing all the greedy bureaucrats and spoiled nobles from positions of power. Afterward we Shadow Hunters shall return to our military profession, replacing the defunct militaries of both sides and thereby giving all the peoples of the Magic World a single army to bring their problems to. Any additional merging should occur over the next few years, even without our help."

But even as Kevin and Aleric were explaining, Makie was experiencing extreme confusion. That in and of itself was not uncommon; Makie was often confused by complicated speeches. But this time her bewilderment was not due to her somewhat low IQ level. It was because the explanation her master was giving to her friends was not exactly the same explanation he had given to her. Still she was perceptive enough to realize that there was perhaps a reason for this and decided not to interrupt.

"And what about what all the people think?" demanded Asuna. "What if they don't want their countries changed? What if they like their lives the way they are?"

Aleric shook his head sadly. "If they disapprove of the coming changes it's because they don't know enough about their own situation to understand what's best for them."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Yue asked, now genuinely interested. But the green-cloaked mage did not answer and Takamichi spoke up.

"You must realize," said the teacher, frowning, "that to accomplish this vision of yours a certain number of deaths is a prerequisite. Several hundred at the very least."

"I am a soldier as well as a mage," said Aleric, stony-faced. "I am prepared to accept the consequences for my actions. And besides, everyone dies eventually." Aleric spared a moment to glance wistfully down at the new gravestone he was still standing near. "But whoever said that death is the end?"

Yue and Nodoka both blinked in surprise and uncertainty at the statement while Evangeline chuckled. "That's some good determination you've got there," she said with her toothy grin. "I can see why the boy took a shine to you."

"Negi is very fond of anyone who is willing to sacrifice their time in order to teach him," replied Aleric. "For example, when I offered to teach him the _Magia Erebea_ that you created he practically jumped at the chance."

Instantly Eva's entire demeanor changed. Her smirk transformed into a look of stunned surprise. "You taught him _what_?"

This reaction caused quite a stir among the other girls; questioning expressions from Setsuna, Nodoka, Yue, Kaede, and Ku and renewed suspicion and anger from Asuna. Seeing this Aleric held his hands up hoping to placate his audience. "Oh, don't worry, he's proven very adept with it," he said. "Of course I deserve some of the credit as well, as I helped him tame it so it wouldn't overwhelm him. But these days he's so good with that particular spell he could be your successor."

Eva's disturbed expression calmed down somewhat. "My—my successor, huh?" she said, looking down. "Yes, that boy always did have the drive to become that…"

"Enough!" barked Konoemon. "Aleric! You said you came here to deliver Haruna Saotome's Pactio card to her gravesite. This you have done, so why are you still here?"

"There are still a few matters that need to be addressed," Aleric answered, frowning. "The most pressing of which is, now that you know what we are doing, where do the Kanto and Kansai Magic Associations stand? What is your take on my plan?"

Konoemon and Eishun shared a glance and then a nod, and turned back to Aleric.

"You may believe that what you're doing is the right thing," started Eishun slowly, "but you have no right to flip the entire Magical World upside down just to satisfy your own ideas of how it should be run."

"I've met your kind of person before, Aleric," said Konoemon. "The plans your kind come up with never end well."

"I see," said Aleric. "Well, I was going to ask you if I could borrow the World Tree for a brief period, but I can see that that would be utterly pointless now. In which case, I've only one final small piece of business to finish." Aleric pointed to the ground. "You, ermine!"

Chamo jumped as if he had trod on hot coals. "M-me?"

"You are Negi's familiar, are you not?" asked the master mage.

"Y-yes, I am." Chamo looked as though he wished Aleric would speak to anyone else.

"A familiar's place is by the side of the mage he serves," Aleric stated matter-of-factly. "You really ought to come with us so we can bring you back to Negi."

This also caused quite a stir. After a few moments of scattered exclamations, protests, and other unintelligible noises, Konoemon shouted, "Quiet!" With the tumult silenced, the dean continued. "Aleric does have a point about familiars needing to be by their masters' sides," he conceded. "As long as you promise not to help them in any way… I don't see the harm in it."

"Headmaster-san!" stammered Chamo. "I'd love to see Aniki again, but this way is a little…"

"If you're going to let the pervert ermine see Negi…," started Asuna angrily. It was in this moment that Aleric's well-worn patience finally broke. He understood that people like this helped to keep life interesting, but at the moment he was wondering how Negi had survived so many months surrounded by these flakes.

"I don't have time for this," the green-cloaked mage groaned, raising a hand. Chamo gave a strangled yelp of surprise as he was lifted into the air and tossed toward Makie, who caught him. "Could you please carry him, Makie-chan?" Aleric asked. "I think he'll be happiest with you."

"Uh, s-sure," Makie said uncertainly.

"Chamo-kun!" exclaimed Nodoka.

Kaede, Ku Fei, and Setsuna all rushed forward, calling out for the two Shadow Hunters and Makie to stop. Aleric simply ignored them, turned to his tan-robed Minister, and said, "Do it."

Quick as a flash, Kevin had drawn a card out from the folds of his cloak, crying "Adeat!" A burst of light later and Kevin's artifact had come to his hand. At the first sight of it the girls found themselves somewhat under-whelmed; all it appeared to be was a set of five keys on a ring. But they had all had too much experience with the usefulness of Pactio artifacts to underestimate one now. Setsuna, Ku, and Kaede broke off their charge while Asuna sprang forward, ready to use her _Magic Cancel_ if necessary. But it turned out not to be necessary; Kevin simply grabbed one of the keys, pointed it out into space, and turned it as though it was already inside of a lock. Then, before the astonished eyes of the surrounding group, an entire doorway materialized around the Shadow Hunter's artifact key.

It looked very surreal, an entry point just as complete as somebody's front door standing right in the middle of a cemetery with no building attached to it. But aside from its improbable appearance, it seemed to be fully functional; Kevin simply twisted the knob and swung the door into the open position, though there was no sign of this on the other side of the doorframe.

"_High-level space manipulation!"_ realized Takamichi. 

Makie quickly rushed through the opening, carrying the panic-stricken Chamo along with her. Aleric moved to follow but suddenly found Asuna charging at him, reaching for his collar. "Get back here, you jerk!" the redhead was screeching. Aleric, an expression of irritation firmly in place, turned to face her. The mage knew that Asuna was immune to most magic but, thanks to Negi, also knew that she was easily distracted. Thus all Aleric did to stop the one-woman army was flick his wrist and cast a mid-level disarming spell. It didn't knock the greatsword she was still holding away but it did send all of her clothes, including her underwear, into one of the nearby trees.

"WHA-WHA-WHAT THE HELL? NOT AGAIN!"

Completely ignoring poor Asuna's crisis, Aleric briskly walked through the stand-alone doorway, followed at once by Kevin, who yanked the key from the door's lock and slammed the door shut behind them. Immediately the door began to fade until there was nothing left of it at all.

A few minutes later, when Asuna's clothes had been retrieved, Konoemon spoke so that everyone would hear him. "There can be no doubt as to our next course of action," he said. "At any cost, we must stop Aleric and his Shadow Hunters." 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Negi let out a sigh of relief as he caught sight of Fortress Ragnarök. The amount of effort he and Fate had had to put into tearing Herald and Sati away from their fight with Tsukuyomi was enough that he nearly gave himself a migraine just by remembering it. And he had been remembering it all throughout the trip home, because he and Rebecca had been sitting on top of their hogtied and gagged teammates the whole way. But now at last they were back, and Negi could focus on something besides Herald's squirming.

"Uh, Captain?" asked Rebecca.

"Yes?" asked Negi, turning to look at her.

"If you want to go on ahead and find your sister, I think I can manage these two," she said, smiling. The movement of the boat slowed, and came to a stop.

"Thanks, Rebecca," said Negi. "I think I'll just take you up on that. But are you sure…"

"Let's check," said Rebecca, bending down so that she had eye contact with Sati. "Would you two mind terribly if I continue babysitting while Negi goes on ahead to meet his sister?"

"Mwy mwonin mif mu moud munvwie mwe!" Sati choked through her gag.

"No, that's great," said Rebecca cheerfully. "You're good to go, Captain." Negi chuckled as he stood up. Herald tried to wriggle out of the seat but Rebecca placed one end of her staff on his back and he went nowhere.

"Thanks again, Rebecca," said Negi. "Just try not to humiliate them too badly." Negi then disappeared with a _Ground Contractor_.

"You know, you guys," said Rebecca. "You two wouldn't be in this fix if you would just take things easy for once. Honestly, going against Captain Negi's orders just to get a good fight! Don't you two ever get tired?"

"_Yeah, right, Beck,"_ thought Herald. _"You're one to lecture Sati and me about energy. You're sixteen years old and you've got all the vigor of a seventy-year-old seamstress!"_

"_I'm sorry, what was that?"_ The voice was Rebecca's, but it was inside of Herald's head. The trapped Hunter first felt a jolt of panic, then a jolt of outrage.

"_Come on, no mind-reading, that's not fair!" _

"Well, whatever," said Rebecca out loud. "But I kinda get the feeling you two think of me as an old lady." Rebecca gained a mischievous smile from Herald and Sati's adamant head-shaking. "I happen to have plenty of energy, it's just that there isn't a lot of occasion to use it. But now I see an occasion." Rebecca stood up and used her magic to levitate her two helpless teammates. "I'm going to show the both of you just how spontaneous I can be, all the way back to our quarters. And don't worry, I'm sure this'll hurt you more than it's going to hurt me…"

Meanwhile, Negi was quickly moving across the training grounds, careful to avoid the ones that were currently in use. It wouldn't do to interrupt someone else's team while they were practicing. This had happened a number of times to his team, and although he had always managed to remain courteous during such encounters, he had learned not to expect the same of the other captains. Particularly Team Epsilon's captain.

Negi shook his head. He had always had a talent (though he would occasionally use the term 'curse') for getting along with girls. But from day one Tess McGuiness had been the glaring exception. Granted he and Asuna had never exactly clicked, especially during those first few weeks, but he eventually worked his way into her good graces. This had yet to happen with Tess; for some reason she had hated him ever since their first meeting. Because of this unexplained hatred Team Delta and Team Epsilon had always been rivals, trying to outdo one another on missions. And Tess always seemed to be looking to provoke Negi into a fight when they were off-duty. Negi shook his head again. There were some girls he just didn't think he'd ever understand.

However, Negi realized that all of his musings were neither here nor there and that he was wasting time. His sister was on the island, and he had promised to explain everything (well, as much as he was able) to her and Anya when he returned. It was time he followed through with that promise. The Hunter captain performed another _Ground Contractor_, and vanished.

Negi would have been surprised to learn that he had actually left his intended targets behind. Not two minutes after departing the area the colossal worm that belonged to Margaret Falcon and her offspring surfaced in that very spot. Bennie, as he was affectionately called, currently had both Nekane Springfield and Anya Cocolova in his many-tongued mouth.

The worm suddenly turned its head to the side as a new voice cried out, "Bennie!" Only a few meters away was a small dark-haired boy about the age of nine: Alfred and Valarie's older brother Donald. Both of his younger siblings stood behind him as he pointed his finger downward. "Bennie," said Donald, trying to make his voice as deep and intimidating as possible, "drop them."

Bennie dropped his head down, opened his giant maw, and regurgitated two figures out onto the dirt. Nekane and Anya were both covered in worm spit. Nekane was unconscious, having passed out at some point during the ordeal, and Anya was trembling so badly she looked like a blender. But on the plus side, both of them still had all their clothes on.

Donald, Alfred, and Valarie ran forward. "Bennie, go!" snapped the oldest boy. "Get back to your pen! Go nighty-night!"

Bennie the worm hissed in acknowledgement and dived head first back into the soft earth of the island. Within the next few seconds the giant worm was gone.

"I'm so sorry, miss," said Donald to Anya. "Usually he doesn't wander off like that."

"He…doesn't," repeated Anya slowly. "Why…do you have…a worm for a pet in the first place?"

"Ah—Mom got him for us when she was on a trip to the Magic World," said the nine-year-old. "But you're all wet—let me help you." Donald pulled out a wooden wand and started to cast a drying spell over Anya. The fire-mage shuddered a little as the offensive material vanished from her clothes, hair, and skin. Once he was done with Anya, Donald moved to repeat the process with Nekane. At the moment she became completely dry, Nekane moaned and pushed herself up from the ground.

"Anya?" asked the blond-haired woman. "Where'd that worm go?"

"Don't worry, miss," chirped Valarie. "Don sent Bennie back to his pen."

"Yeah, you don't really have to worry about Bennie," said Donald. "He could tell that you two didn't mean any harm. He was just playing around."

Anya came very close to asking the boy what would have happened to a real intruder but wisely decided not to. Visions of severed limbs and digestion were running through her head and she'd really rather _not_ have them confirmed.

"Anyway," Donald continued, "we should go back to our room inside the fortress. I've never met any of them but Mom says that some of the people around here can be pretty strange when they want to be."

Nekane and Anya exchanged glances. Neither one of them was able think of an answer to that statement.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The casual observer might have been somewhat perplexed to see two cloaked figures, a nineteen-year-old girl, and a talking ermine emerge from a utility shed in the middle of New York City's Central Park. Even most mages would have found this peculiar, because the space magic that would have been required for all of them to fit inside was a rarity at best. But most of the area was under the influence of Aleric's illusionary magic so nobody was able to see anything anyway.

"Ah, well, that was fun," said Aleric as Kevin shut the utility shed door behind the group. "Sorta reminded me of that time when I was nine and I had to fight off three slime creatures by myself."

Kevin snorted and returned his artifact to card form. "You know, it might have been best to take care of all those guys right then," said the tan-cloaked mage. "Considering the fighting styles of most of them, defeating them should be easy for you."

"I'd really rather avoid that scenario," Aleric said simply.

"You mean put it off for as long as you can," returned Kevin smoothly.

"Hey, wait a minute!" demanded Chamo. "Where are we? And what did this guy's artifact do?"

Aleric smiled at the inquiry. "Yes, well, you see," started the Shadow Hunter leader, "Kevin's artifact has the power of spatial manipulation. With a bit of preparation, it can set up an escape route through nearly any doorway on the planet. It's quite handy for quick getaways, as you can plainly see."

"Of course you realize," said Kevin, "that this is privileged information, since you're on our side now."

"Now wait just a minute!" protested Chamo. "I may be Aniki's familiar, but that doesn't…"

"You're on our side," said Kevin, his expression becoming feral, "or I'll kill you." Chamo was quickly sobbing on Makie's shoulder.

"He's terrifying, Nee-san!"

"There, there," said Makie, running a finger through the ermine's fur. "I'm sure Kevin-san didn't actually mean _kill_, kill."

"Right, I'm just going to use his hide to make a pair of gloves, and let him live out the rest of his days without skin," Kevin said while grinning. This only served to upset Chamo further, who then dove into Makie's cleavage for protection. Makie gave a strangled giggle, took several seconds to adjust to the odd feeling of having a small animal down her front, and then addressed her master.

"Aleric-sensei," she said apprehensively, "is it really necessary for us to have to fight them? Can we even fight them?"

"Makie-chan, you know the answers to both those questions already," Aleric replied sadly, turning away. "We have always possessed the necessary firepower to take on one or two Magic Associations. That, plus we have several groups of the same level on our side already. And even if we didn't, we would have no other choice but to fight them at this point. Project I _has _to be completed."

"I do know that," Makie conceded, still looking apprehensive, "but it just seems that if we explained everything to them, they would want to help us. I mean, when you were talking to the dean, you didn't even tell him about the Magic World, sensei! About how it's collapsing and we're going to stop it from happ…"

"Makie-chan, NO!" shouted Aleric, spinning around, his expression one of undiluted horror. Makie appeared startled by the interruption, but suddenly her eyes went wide and glassy, and her breathing hitched. The gymnast collapsed to the ground and began twitching as if in extreme pain. Aleric rushed to her side and placed his hands on her, invoking a healing spell. "Dammit!" the master mage swore. "Kevin! The fourth key, now!"

Kevin had already re-summoned his artifact and used another of the keys to open a new doorway in midair. Kevin didn't bother to be gentle with this one and instead opted simply to kick it open. Just as swiftly, Aleric scooped the still-twitching Makie up in his arms and rushed through the door into the unknown space beyond. And if one looked closely, one could see dust falling out from Makie's shirt as she was carried—dust that had, until recently, been Negi Springfield's one-time magical familiar.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hahahahahaha! If anyone saw that ending coming I'll eat all the doorknobs in my house through a straw! I realize some of you are undoubtedly upset with it so allow me to share with you the upside of this whole thing: this chapter came out much earlier than usual.


	26. Peacetime's Twilight

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs: (So many reviews, so little time!)

Kurush: Well, I never thought of the characters as having an alignment system. I always thought of each character as an individual working with (or against) the others toward a common goal. I never really think in terms of 'Light', 'Dark', and 'Neutral'.

ColinatorGX: Good to see you again! Here's the explanation now!

HikariNoTenshi-San: Your review sort of sums up the last chapter's conclusion. Thanks for sending it in!

Midnight Finalage Throw: Yes, many of the world's greatest authors were their own worst critics. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis spring to mind here, but I hardly think that my work is at all comparable to theirs.

Murraymints999: Ah, and there's even more to Aleric's character than just the 'noble villain' aspect. He's actually a lot like Lelouch, which is really strange since I didn't even watch that show until after I'd started this story!

Yipstar: Thanks! And you're right as well; there is most definitely something going on behind the scenes. Please keep reading!

Arct1cfox: It took me awhile to dream up Kevin's artifact, so I'm glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!

Starburstia: Well, it's better than nothing at least! Thanks for reviewing!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XXVI

Peacetime's Twilight

Kevin Lang paced worriedly, his cloak twisting and twirling every time he turned. His hands were behind his back, tapping together incessantly. After several cycles of this, the Shadow Hunter noticed he was beginning to wear a groove in the floor and let out an aggravated grunt.

"How could Makie have been so completely stupid?" Kevin snapped aloud. "I know Aleric told her why she could never talk about the plan. Did she just forget?" Kevin crossed his arms and sighed. His gaze drifted over to a table where he had laid a good deal of white dust that he had collected from the various spots it had fallen in. It was hard, almost scary, to think that only an hour ago that lump of powder had been a living creature. When he spoke again, his voice was much lower. "A knowledge curse is a hell of a thing to be forgetting."

The tan-robed Shadow Hunter resumed his pacing. The room he was currently in did not occupy normal space, having been generated by his artifact's fourth key. Each of his five artifact keys served to open a different location. The first key, which he referred to as the 'reservation key', had the ability to select any doorway to use as an escape route at a later time. The second, third, and fourth keys each opened up a different room, each existing in its own pocket dimension. The second room was an armory for all kinds of weapons while the third was a library, complete with computers. This fourth room was used as an emergency infirmary, as well as a storage space for any healing artifacts that Kevin was able to get his hands on. Back when the original six Shadow Hunters were first starting out, this room had been used quite frequently to save eyes, limbs, and even lives. It wasn't used much now, but there were still occasions that it was needed, today being an excellent example. As for the fifth key…

Suddenly, the door to the side room Aleric had rushed Makie into opened. The green-cloaked mage stepped out with an expression of mixed relief and sadness. It was the same look one would see on a doctor who had been handed two critical patients and was only able to save one.

"Aleric!" said Kevin, spinning around. "Is Makie…?"

"She'll live," Aleric sighed. "She won't even have any lasting damage. It's one of the strange things about magic this powerful. It either kills you so fast you don't know what hit you or it does no harm whatsoever." Aleric sighed again, and gestured with his right hand for Kevin to follow him. "Come on, let's go see if we can get her up." Before turning around completely, the Master Mage's gaze also fell onto the pile of snowy dust on the far table. Aleric let out a noise that was somewhere between a moan and a hiss. "Damn," he muttered. "I know this sort of crap happens when you're preparing for a war, but it's still hard to deal with." Kevin didn't respond, and then both men went into the adjacent room, shutting the door behind them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"NOOOOO! KEEP THAT GARBAGE AWAY FROM ME!"

Harley was employing all her self-control to avoid chuckling. Chisame was having a meltdown and there was actually no reason for it. The Huntress had just called out to an invisible ally to drop guy-on-guy porn magazines into the cell with them so that Harley could torture her prisoner by forcing her to look at them. At least, that was what Chisame was supposed to think. In reality, this was a prearranged code that the top Shadow Hunters had set up for when one of their number wished to mess with their prisoners' heads. What Hans had sent into the cell were magazines on tile work, but Chisame was too panicked to notice this.

"Oh, come on, it's not as bad as all that," Harley teased. Then the Huntress spotted what she considered to be a very ugly design for a bathroom floor. "On second thought, perhaps you're right. I wonder how it is people can do that to themselves?"

Chisame almost turned around in her shocked fury, but twisted right back around. "W-W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU—YOU…!"

Harley turned a page and now found an outdoor patio that she liked very much. "Oh, now this one's good. I wouldn't mind looking at that every day."

Chisame was almost as red as a boiled lobster by now. "SHUT UP!" she cried. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP! YOU FREAKY PERVERT WOMAN, YOU…huh?" Now it just so happened Chisame had looked long enough to see the picture on the front of the magazine, and that had brought her screaming-out-of-control imagination to a halt. Harley, still trying to act as nonchalantly as possible, flipped the periodical over so Chisame could see the patio she had been referring to.

"Don't you think this would go with a lot of modern houses?" the white-robed woman asked. "I think it adds a touch of personality." Harley grinned at that moment, seeing Chisame's bewildered and somewhat twitchy expression. "Just goes to show you can't believe everything you hear!"

Chisame raised her arm and pointed a trembling finger at Harley, but no words came out of her open mouth. After several moments of producing only squeaks and disjointed syllables, the unfortunate computer expert, suddenly seized by indignant fury, seemed to have come under the impression that she possessed true combat ability, and took a mad swing at Harley, screaming "DIE!"

Harley, still wearing her grin, simply sidestepped the wildly flailing girl. The two women repeated this pattern several times before the Huntress finally seized Chisame by the wrist and elbow, lifted her into the air and brought her back down onto the floor in a sweeping arc. Her frenzy offset by pain, Chisame finally calmed down. She groaned as she lifted her head to look at Harley. "I hate you."

"I'd probably hate me if I were you, too," Harley answered. "But that's sort of a moot point because I'm here and you're there." Harley knelt down so that she was nose-to-nose with her prisoner. "Of course, if you really want to get out of here, there's one very easy way to accomplish it." Chisame simply glared in reply, but Harley continued regardless. "All you have to do is swear never to get involved in our business again unless we ask you. Simple, isn't it?"

Chisame still remained silent. The gears in her head were shifting into overdrive. _"Just say I won't get in their way again?"_ thought the younger woman. _"There's no way it's _that_ easy! Any real interrogation would have her trying to get information out of me. She should be asking me exactly how much I know about their plans, not just to back off."_ Chisame's eyes widened as a very disturbing thought occurred to her. _"Maybe this is some kind of trap. Surely they wouldn't take the words of a helpless prisoner at face value. They have to at least consider the possibility that I might lie."_ An even more disturbing thought appeared. _"What if they have some kind of crazy fantasy power that can force me to be as good as my word? This whole situation already goes way beyond reasonable limits so…" _

Harley's soft giggle interrupted Chisame's internal conflict. "You know, for someone who claims to hate phantasmagoric situations like this, you sure do understand how they work." Harley smiled a knowing smile. "I'll admit I'm not nearly as strong as my leader when it comes to the ways of magic, but if you think I can't read an ordinary person's thoughts from this close range, you're crazy." Chisame clenched her teeth and Harley picked up a string of curses that were almost as powerful as the ones mages cast. The Huntress's smile faded and her eyebrows knitted together. "I hope you don't think about your parents with that mind."

But even while she was saying that Harley's own thoughts were racing. _"It's pretty impressive that she's able to think so clearly under these circumstances,"_ she was saying to herself. _"And while she may not have the specifics she has caught onto the fact that I'm after her to speak words of surrender."_ Harley absent-mindedly squeezed the object hidden in her pocket. Her fingers discerned the figurine of an eagle, measuring scales hanging from its wings. _"It'll make using this thing a little more interesting."_

At that moment, a third person entered the cell. It was Hans, and he didn't use the door. He simply rearranged the illuminated lines that ran all throughout the fortress to create a facsimile of his own face on the wall. "Ah, Harley," Hans began. "Sorry to interrupt your fun, but Team Delta has returned and Rebecca is asking to see you."

"What, now?" asked Harley, sounding annoyed.

"She says it's very important," answered the ghost.

Harley sighed and stood up. "I guess it can't be helped then." The raven-haired woman stood and walked toward the door. She opened it with a spell and a jerk of her arm but paused before actually exiting. "If I were you," she said, addressing Chisame, "I wouldn't get too comfortable. I'll be back shortly and I advise you to have made a choice by then." Harley left without another word, leaving the agitated Chisame behind. The abandoned prisoner hissed as she attempted to stand up. "Just what the hell is going on around here?" she said to the empty air of the cell.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ironically enough that very same question was being pondered by one Yue Ayase.

The blue-haired college student was sitting at the table in her dorm room, fixed into a pose of deep thought and not moving a muscle. In her mind she was analyzing and then reanalyzing the events of the last few days. She had been doing this for several hours and she could come to only one conclusion.

"I _must_ be missing something," Yue murmured aloud. "There are just too many holes. Too many places where people's words and reputations don't match up with their actions." Yue got out of her chair and started pacing.

The first item on the girl's list of problems was Aleric. He was the leader of a highly successful mercenary army. It was almost certain that he had killed in cold blood in the past, and upon first meeting him Yue herself had been severely frightened. But instead of being indifferent or callous towards Mahora's recent loss, Aleric had displayed a fair amount of empathy for his supposed enemies. Yet at the same time he was planning to instigate a war and proclaiming it to be the best way to go about uniting a fractured world.

She paused in her thoughts to turn around.

Presumably this was the way that Negi and Makie felt as well, but that raised another issue. In the time that he had taught her class Negi had always seemed to her to be a kind, thoughtful boy who would never overlook any of the perceived negative effects he had on other people. He was definitely not the type who would willingly hurt anybody, and this went double for Makie, who was the very embodiment of girlish naïveté. Also in Makie's case was the fact that the explanation Aleric and his partner had given as the reason for all this was long and complex. Yue had known the girl dubbed 'Baka Pink' for too long; there was no way that she had understood a word of it.

Yue turned again.

So why, if the explanation was beyond Makie and neither she nor Negi could stand hurting people anyway, were both of them backing Aleric? No, the only way any of this made any sense was if Aleric had only told half the tale.

Now Yue's pacing was becoming faster, lessening the time it took her to cross the room.

It might, she decided, have something to do with that witch Tredecim. No one had so much as mentioned her during the encounter with Aleric, despite how large a role she had played in Haruna's death, which was in itself strange. It was evident from the exchange she had had with Fate Averruncus and his subordinates that she had once been one of them, though that was clearly not the case now. And it seemed she knew of Aleric as well, but wasn't particularly fond of him either.

The girl's next turn was so sharp that one of her oversized pigtails lashed out and nearly knocked a picture frame off the wall.

Of course being on the outs with that murderous hag could only be a point in Aleric and Fate's favor. Granted, there was still the possibility that they were both extremely skilled liars, but all the evidence that she had now pointed to Tredecim as not only the instigator of Haruna's death but the only one to benefit from it. But she still didn't understand how exactly Tredecim would benefit, so she was really unable to come to any kind of solid conclusion, save one.

"We need to find out who's on what side," said Yue, coming to a stop in the middle of the room. "We don't know enough right now to make a wager for a mouthful of sashimi, let alone innocent lives." Just then the door swung open, startling her.

Nodoka came in, dragging a nervous-looking Kazumi behind her. "Yue!" the normally shy girl exclaimed. "Asakura-san says she knows something about the Shadow Hunters! And Negi-sensei!"

Yue froze. "What?"

"I…I don't know how much help I can be," Kazumi said pleadingly. "I'm still trying to work things out myself. It's…It's just that recently I…got into trouble while researching for one of my stories and I…er…ended up hiring the Shadow Hunters as bodyguards. They…uh…sent Negi-kun and his team to protect me."

"When was this?" demanded Yue. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"There wasn't time," Kazumi confessed. "But I'm still sort of behind on why everyone seems to be against Negi-kun's new boss. Does…Does it have something to do with what happened to Haruna?" The reporter's tone was now extremely reluctant. She wasn't at all sure she wanted an answer to that last question.

Yue glanced over at Nodoka. It was obvious that her best friend was as excited as she was, but if at least one of them didn't keep a cool head they wouldn't learn anything.

"Nodoka," Yue said just sharply enough to gain the girl's attention. "Shut the door."

Nodoka looked surprised for just a moment. Then she nodded and wordlessly did as asked.

"Asakura-san," Yue said in a low voice, watching Nodoka latch the deadbolt, "I need you to start at the beginning. I need you to tell me exactly what you were researching, why you needed protection, and from whom. Then I need you tell me what happened after you met with Negi-sensei." Seeing Kazumi's wide-eyed look Yue elaborated. "If we're going to even start figuring this out we have to start pooling our knowledge. That means you tell me everything you know and I tell you everything I know. Otherwise the lot of us will just keep stumbling around in the dark."

Kazumi appeared to ponder this before nodding in agreement and motioning toward the table. "This is going to take awhile so we might want to sit down," she said.

Yue and Nodoka readily complied with this. Elation and relief were battling one another in the hearts of both girls. At last, after so much effort and heartache, they were finally on the right track.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Makie…"

The voice seemed to be coming from a long way off.

"Makie-chan…"

It sounded very familiar, like an old friend or maybe…

"Makie-chan, it's time to wake up."

…an important teacher?

Makie's eyes drifted open. She found herself lying on a cot, mostly covered by a thin blanket, with her green-robed master standing over her. "Aleric-sensei?" Makie asked weakly. Her peripheral vision was extremely blurry and she was so dizzy she felt it would only be a matter of time until she vomited. "What happened? Where are we?"

"Relax, Makie-chan," Aleric instructed. "We're inside one of Kevin's pocket dimensions. We brought you here after you collapsed."

"I… collapsed?" Makie repeated slowly. "Why'd that happen? All I remember doing is asking you a question." Aleric closed his eyes and adopted a neutral expression while Kevin's became somewhat stern.

"It happened," Kevin began shortly, "because you were fool enough to break the taboo. What were you thinking, talking about our core plan?"

"The taboo?" Makie asked, sounding uncertain.

This time it was Aleric who answered. "Yes, Makie, the curse surrounding the knowledge that the Magic World can still be saved. I'm not holding my tongue about that information because I'm such a fan of stomach ulcers!"

"Oh!" Makie gasped, her eyes widening to dinner-plate size.

Back when she had first become Aleric's apprentice he had taken her on a secret trip to the Magic World. It hadn't been easy; thinking up an excuse to get Makie out of Mahora for two weeks without raising even the most easily lifted eyebrows had proven a chore even for Aleric's nimble brain. But still, they had pulled it off, and Makie had gotten to see a most amazing world. There were flying ships, beast-people, and even a city above the clouds. However, a lot of what Aleric had shown her had not been fun. In fact, some of it had been entirely heartrending. The knowledge that that world was on its way to an inevitable collapse was chief among these. It was tempered only by Aleric's discovery that there was a way to prevent this from happening. But there was a catch.

"Back when I took you to the Magic World, I let you figure out for yourself that there was a way to save it," said Aleric somberly. "I had no other choice but to let you figure it out for yourself. The knowledge that this method to save the Magic World exists is cursed, and is impossible to share directly. If you try to discuss it with someone who doesn't already know about it, both you and he will die. It was really only the fact that you missed saying the last few syllables that saved your life."

Makie had a hand clapped over her mouth in equal parts of horror and confusion. "But, but, but…why did the curse activate?" She sputtered. "You and Kevin-san already…" The distraught gymnast trailed off again. It shouldn't have been possible for her eyes to go any wider, but they did. All of her previous aches and pains were completely forgotten in the face of the emotional onslaught.

"I'm afraid there was somebody else within earshot who didn't know about it," said Aleric, placing his hands on Makie's shoulders to comfort her. "But you mustn't blame yourself. At some point everybody has done something that they could kick themselves for…"

Aleric's consolation was cut off by Makie's shaking and entirely weak voice. "C-Chamo-kun…is Chamo-kun…?"

Aleric closed his eyes, unwilling to look at Makie's broken expression any longer. "I'm sorry, Makie. He had heard enough to deduce what was happening, and that was all it took. He never had a chance."

Makie sagged like an overripe fruit. "Oh no…" she whispered. Tears began to fall from her eyes and her lower lip trembled. "Wh-what will N-Negi-kun say… when he f-finds out… th-that I…"

Aleric's eyes snapped open again. "Look at me, Makie-chan," he ordered, so firmly that Makie obeyed. "This is _not_ your fault and Negi will most certainly not hold you responsible for it. It was an accident. It doesn't mean you're a terrible person and it doesn't mean Negi should disown you as a friend… keep looking at me, Makie-chan!" Makie's teary gaze, which had been drifting downward, shot back up. "All this means is we have another reason to succeed in our plans." Aleric released his student's shoulders and took a step backward. "We must push forward and complete Project I as soon as possible. Not doing so will simply risk another accident like this one."

Makie swallowed hard, feeling sort-of-but-not-really-comforted. "Y-yes, sir," the girl said. She tried to blink the tears out of her eyes but they held fast. Aleric saw this and knew that only time could help his tormented apprentice. He turned back towards the door.

"Makie-chan," he said, "Kevin and I have to go and make plans. If you want, you can stay in here for awhile. Just be sure to come out and eat something eventually."

Makie looked up and nodded dully in gratitude. "Thanks, sensei," said Makie.

Aleric smiled as best he could, then left the room with Kevin. The smile melted into a grim-faced scowl as soon as the door latched. "And I thought we were screwed just from our meeting with Konoemon and the others," he said. "This makes it several times worse."

Kevin's expression mirrored Aleric's. By only sharing the damage-control part of the plan (which was all they could do), the Hunters had cast themselves in a bad light. Now on top of that a non-combatant from the other side had died under circumstances that they would not be able to explain. To the outside world the Shadow Hunters and anyone allied with them had been firmly cast as the bad guys.

"And there's one more goodie too," said Kevin with a faux smile. "Since Konoemon refused to go along we're going to have to take control of the World Tree by force! We have to make sure it's synchronized with the other Magical Concentration Points or we won't be able to get the weapons we found at the Nazca Plateau to the Magic World."

Aleric let out a groan of aggravation. "Yes, there's that as well." The Shadow Hunter leader brought a hand up, balled it into a fist, and squeezed hard enough that he almost drew blood from his palm. "So now it's to be open war. With one side adhering to high moral standards and looking down on their foes and the other willing to do whatever it takes to win but regretful that they have to fight at all." Aleric shook his head. "It's practically a battle of false good against false evil."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Aleric, don't go getting all philosophical on me," he warned. "Remember what you usually say about philosophy?"

The green-robed mage unclenched his fist and pressed the fingers of his other hand into his forehead. "Right, right," he sighed to himself. "Philosophy doesn't feed the bulldog. Okay, here's what we're going to do. You rush back to the fortress and get things ready there. After that, get word to all our troops out on missions. Make sure they're prepared against surprise attacks. Meanwhile, I'll inform our Magic Association allies of the situation."

Now Kevin displayed a genuine smirk. "That's the Aleric I know and Harley loves!"

The master mage threw his partner a look. "Button it," said Aleric. "And get moving; you're wasting time."

"Yes, sir!" Kevin, still smirking, ran from the room. It wasn't until after he had left that Aleric could be heard muttering to himself.

"Somehow," he was saying to himself, "I get the feeling that, just like with all wars, this one's going to get a lot worse before it gets better."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Konoemon Konoe sat at his desk, arms folded. Before him stood his son-in-law Eishun, Albireo Imma, and Evangeline A.K. McDowell, as well as the teachers Takahata, Akashi, Toko Kuzunoha, Kataragi, Gandolfini, and Sister Shakti. The grim expressions worn by most of them were a perfect match for his own mood.

Akashi was the first to speak. "So that's it, huh?" he asked. "No chance for negotiation?"

Kuzunoha rounded on him. "Don't be ridiculous, Akashi-sensei! They are the ones who attacked and robbed _us_! Now they're using their influence to start a civil war! These Shadow Hunters are unforgivable and must not be brokered with!"

Gandolfini purposefully adjusted his glasses. "There doesn't seem to be any choice, since their leader is determined to go through with his plan."

"But a conflict of this magnitude will be difficult to conceal," put in Kataragi. "All it would take is one or two misplaced battles and our secrecy will be a thing of the past."

"It's risky," agreed Takamichi. "But the alternative is to simply sit on our rears and do nothing."

Eishun cleared his throat. "As long as we're careful to restrict the fighting to quarantined areas, there shouldn't be a problem. And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we recently discover that their headquarters is located on an island way out in the ocean? That seems fairly isolated to me."

Eva threw him an appreciative glance. "Take the fight to them, huh?"

"That would be extremely dangerous," said Albireo. "Almost as dangerous as our final battle in the Gravekeeper's Palace."

"Enough," said Konoemon firmly. "The first thing we need to do is inform the Magic Associations that Aleric has not already brought over to his own side. Also," he paused to look Eishun in the eye, "we need assurance of one hundred percent cooperation with the mages in the Kansai region."

"Don't worry," said Eishun, smiling slightly. "I know our two organizations have had their differences in the past, but with the situation this serious, I don't think there will be any objections. Just to be sure, I'll get back over there as soon as possible and get everything organized."

Konoemon nodded. "Good," he said. "Then while Eishun is doing that, we will prepare our own forces, as well as send messengers to the uncorrupted magical authorities. Get moving!" As all of the others vacated the office, Konoemon remained behind. In the silence of the office he could be heard muttering to himself, "Wars will never go away, will they? But hopefully this one will be the last in my lifetime." Then the old man rose from his chair and followed his younger counterparts.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

So now we've arrived at the part of the story that I like to think of as 'The Secret War of the Old World'. (Maybe you'll see that term in-story if you guys like it.) Once again I'd like to thank all of you who have been so patient with my fluctuating release times. Breaking in the new computer took longer than I had anticipated!

Now I have to get to work on chapter 27 as soon as possible, so I'll see you then!


	27. Knowledge: Acquired and Given

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

HikariNoTenshi-San: Chamo may be gone for good but there are still a few ghosts from his past hanging around. You'll have an idea of what I'm talking about if you remember chapter seven…

Yipstar: Well, Kazumi has some useful info about a few other things. You'll find out about that a little later!

Arct1cfox: Thanks for the warning and for your continued support!

Murraymints999: Actually, Aleric _was_ able to get around the curse with Negi and the guys from Cosmo Entelecheia. It's just that the method he used took a lot of time and effort and if there's one thing that's in short supply right now it's time.

ColinatorGX: The idea that you could die just for overhearing the wrong conversation is kind of scary, isn't it? I think it harkens back to the days of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany! Thanks for the review!

Finalage: Perhaps you just have so much to say you can't say anything? Well, thanks for your time, regardless!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XXVII

Knowledge: Acquired and Given

The leader of the New England Magic Association, a gentleman by the name of Rupert Emerson, was quite perturbed. It seemed that Project Infinity's existence had come out prematurely and Aleric was calling on his allies for an acceleration in the agreed-upon plan. Now his organization would have to deliver on their promise of seventy support mages and one-hundred-twenty passive artifacts nearly a month early.

Rupert, for one, was disappointed. He had thought that Aleric and his people would be able to keep a lid on their own scheme, especially since it was _his_ organization that was braving the most risks to support it.

For starters, even though the New England Association was one of Project Infinity's key backers, its leaders were not trusted with all of its details. Normally that would have been sufficient cause for backing out of the deal right there. But Aleric had been known to New England for such a long time (having received some of his early instruction in that very region) that many of their mages trusted him implicitly.

It wasn't as if Rupert doubted Aleric's integrity, however. The younger man had sworn that he believed this plan was the best thing for the Magic World several times, under a variety of truth serums and lie detection spells. It was entirely impossible that Aleric was deceiving everyone merely for his own benefit or satisfaction. He had even gotten the Thousand Master's son and the remnants of Cosmo Entelecheia both to agree with him, so surely, _surely_, there had to be something huge behind all the secrecy.

Of course, secretive allies and disrupted plans weren't the only source of frustration for Rupert today. Several of the other Magic Associations seemed to have been better prepared for this, judging by how they had leaped right into things. So to the outside those Associations now looked to be the more efficient setups while New England seemed to have been coasting.

The high-level mage blew out an aggravated breath. "It's not as though Lima and Hanoi have to do the kind of work we do in this project. They don't have to deal with the stress of moving more than two dozen mages thousands of miles across the globe in order to help out." Rupert let out another tired sigh. "Oh, well. Whatever…I'd better get started on this as soon as possible." The forty-year-old reached for the phone on his desk. "I just hope Aleric really knows what he's doing."

XXXXXXX

However, Rupert (as is so often the custom with people who complain) was not the only one having problems at that particular moment. In fact, Harley, who had been drawn away from a very sensitive interrogation so she could receive a rather shocking report from Negi's teammates, only to be met in the hallway afterwards by Kevin with equally bad news, was having a downright deplorable day. Between the news of Tredecim's sudden reappearance, having to commence a state of open warfare, and the death of Negi's old familiar on top of that, there was really only one comment Harley could make.

"Oh, this sucks!" she exclaimed, planting a hand on her forehead. "This really, _really_ sucks!"

"Oh, yes," Kevin agreed. "But moving on to happier matters, how's that Pactio partner of Negi's that we had to lock up?" Kevin's expression suddenly shifted to a sympathetic wince as Harley let out a growl of frustration.

"Dammit, I hadn't even gotten around to telling him that that had happened! And his sister is here right now, so how can we…" Harley stopped talking when she realized there was a glow coming from inside her cloak. She quickly removed its source: the small crystal that was to be used in the fast-approaching reactivation ritual. It shined yellow for one brief moment before changing to green.

"It's hit the halfway point already?" said Kevin, somewhat unsettled.

"I didn't even notice it had turned yellow!" moaned Harley. "$#*&! Why's everything happening at once?" Suddenly Harley held up a finger, counted five to herself, and then very slowly and deliberately put the crystal back into her cloak pocket. "Okay," she said, letting out a breath. "Time to get organized. Kevin," she looked up at her long-time friend, "get over to the prison, put a seal on _Chisame Hasegawa's_ Pactio card (she put special emphasis on the name), and then turn her loose. We haven't time to waste on her anymore."

"That Negi's partner?" asked Kevin.

"Yes," Harley answered shortly. She opened her mouth to continue but was interrupted by a voice from the ceiling.

"It is my belief that you two have already taken up too much time talking."

Both Harley and Kevin jumped. Even though they had known him for years Hans could still sneak up on them like nobody's business.

"I've heard everything that has been said up to this point and what we need right now is action, rather than a comprehensive review of everything that has happened over the past few days," the ghost stated matter-of-factly. "Kevin, you go ahead and do what Harley wants. Harley, you should go on and brief Negi on what's going on, then help his relative and their friend get out of here. We haven't any time for them now either. Meanwhile, I'll sound the alarm."

"Well, you seem to be giving orders quite easily, Hans," said Kevin. "Did you die and leave yourself in charge?"

Both of the others chuckled, but Hans was only faking it. "Very funny," he said. "But while you're being amusing, all of our enemies are undoubtedly on the move, including our old friend Tredecim."

"Tredecim?" asked Kevin, surprised. "When did she show up again?" But if he was expecting a prompt reply, or even an answer at all, he was to be disappointed: Hans had already left. "Harley…?"

Harley shook her head. "Sorry. Hans is right, there's no time right now. Suffice it to say that she's the reason Negi's other partner died." Then she sprinted off down the hallway without another word.

"Oh, well, of course, naturally," said Kevin, throwing his hands up. "Always causing a little bit of trouble, then feeding off it, just like the goddamned leech she is." Then with a frustrated sigh, the tan-robed mage also took off. About a minute after the hall had been vacated Hans' voice rang out through the fortress and out onto the island beyond.

"_Achtung! Attention all personnel! All elite teams currently on base, with the exception of Team Delta, are to report to the briefing room immediately! All lower level Hunters are to assemble on the training fields in twenty-five minutes! _No _exceptions!" _

And as this message arrived in the ears of its intended audience Harley arrived at the quarters of Negi Springfield and his teammates. Completely ignoring common courtesy the Huntress immediately flung the door open and was greeted by the sight of Negi, Nekane, and Anya sitting on a nearby sofa. The latter two had been retrieved from the Falcon children not long ago and both were wearing expressions of 'oh, what now?'"

"Oh, Negi," said the Shadow Hunters' second-in-command. "I've got a little surprise for you…" 

XXXXXXX

"All right now," Konoemon called from the head of the large conference table. "Is everyone assembled?"

Mahora's aged headmaster scanned his eyes across the assembled faces before him. To his right were Albireo Imma, Evangeline A. K. McDowell and a holographic screen that contained the image of the head of the Kansai Magic Association, Eishun Konoe, his son-in-law. To his left sat Professor Akashi and a woman by the name of Donet McGuiness, who was representing the head of the Merdiana School of Magic in Wales. Past these two were two more screens displaying images of the leaders of the Magic Associations of Hawaii and Greater Poland. Finally, at the end of the table opposite Konoemon, was the chief of the South African Association as well as a representative from the non-governmental organization G.S.G. (Good Samaritans Global). Altogether it was only about half of the mage organizations that Kanto had sent envoys to, but Konoemon wasn't really surprised. The desire to avoid someone else's war was only natural, after all. Still, they'd managed to find the allies sitting before him and that was good enough for now.

"First off, I must thank all of you for coming here on such short notice. This is of the gravest importance," said Konoemon. "If we are to put a stop to this uprising we will need all the help we can get."

The head of Greater Poland let out a noise somewhere between a sigh and a grunt. "To think it would come to this," he said. "I always knew that boy was a little wound up, but I could never have foreseen this."

"His setup has seemed shady to us at Good Samaritans," commented the G.S.G. representative. "Old World mages carrying out actual mercenary work? Using their magical talents for material gain? There are some within our ranks that believe that they are little better than prostitutes, you know."

"Sill, everyone has to try and put bread on the table, don't they?" said the man from South Africa. "Of course ethics and morality are not what we have come together to discuss, are they?" Deciding not to wait for a reply the dark-skinned man then addressed the authority figure directly across from him. "So Konoemon, who is it exactly that we'll be facing? All you said in that emergency message was that the Shadow Hunters were fomenting a rebellion against the leaders in the Magic World. You never actually named names."

Konoemon nodded. "Yes, that seems as good a place as any to start." The old man picked up a remote from the table and pointed it at the windshield-sized television on the wall behind him. It immediately lit up to a world map. "Now then, we recently uncovered a list that implicated a number of influential organizations, and our subsequent investigations have confirmed their ties to the Shadow Hunters. They are the Magic Associations of New England, Rome, Lima, New Delhi, and Hanoi."

Each time Konoemon called out a name that region became clearly designated in red on the map behind him. Once his audience had absorbed this he went on.

"Additionally we have determined, through one particularly disastrous encounter, that the remnants of Cosmo Entelecheia are jumping on the bandwagon as well." Konoemon pressed another button on the remote and several pictures of Fate Averruncus and the shadow-mage Dynamis appeared on screen. "And on top of that the ex-Cosmo Entelecheia member known as Tredecim has also reappeared." Now three pictures of Haruna's murderer replaced the earlier visages and there were several appreciative shudders around the table. "We're not sure why she's chosen this particular time to show herself, and she still bears serious watching, but we are sure that she is not among the Hunters' allies."

"Thank goodness," said Donet McGuiness quietly.

"It's a great help to be sure," said the head of the Greater Poland Association. "But we're still left facing five established Magic Associations, plus the military strength of the Shadow Hunters, and the leftover bits and pieces of the instigators of the Great Mage War." The man shook his head ruefully. "Surely this alliance must possess power approaching that which was wielded by Cosmo Entelecheia before its defeat! How are we, with no help from the armies of the Magic World, to fight against it?"

"We must be the ones to strike first."

Heads turned to the leader of the Hawaiian Magic Association. She nodded curtly at the attention. "When battling a superior opponent merely being defensive does no good. You simply end up driving yourself into a corner and making your participation in the battle irrelevant. However, if you have the luxury of attacking first, you must do so and then continue pressing that attack so as to prevent your more powerful enemy from responding properly. In other words we must put our offensively stronger foes in a defensive position."

There was a moment of impressed silence before Evangeline chuckled. "Certainly sounds like Hawaii has the better leadership in wartime," she said, throwing a sly look at the Polish man. The offended mage scowled but said nothing. Then the Hawaiian woman cleared her throat and the room's attention returned to her.

"That is not to say, however, that we should focus exclusively on attacking and leave ourselves open. On the contrary, we should be pro-active in our defense as well, and try to predict where they will strike first so we can counter them there."

Konoemon nodded. "On that note," he added, "I believe it's a reasonable assumption that Mahora will be among Aleric's first targets. You see, when he was here, he asked me flat out whether I would lend him access to the World Tree. I do not know what purpose he has in mind for it, but I know we can't let him get anywhere near it again."

"But, I thought the purpose of this rebellion was the Magic World," said the head of the South African Association uncertainly. "Even if the World Tree does have a large supply of magical energy, there's no way they could take that power with them to the Magic World. So it makes little sense to target it."

"It's possible that they may be planning to use the old gateport under the Academy to get to the Magic World," proposed the representative from Good Samaritans. "Since that gate leads directly to the ruins of Old Ostia, they may be planning to launch their offensive from that location, to take the Magic World by surprise."

"That door has been shut down and sealed for more than twenty years so I doubt anyone would be expecting an army to suddenly emerge through it," concurred the head of the Polish Association.

"But the Shadow Hunters already maintain a strong presence around the functioning gate to the Magic World," said Donet. "With the way things are now it wouldn't require any great effort on their part to take complete control of it. That's why Magus-sama had to send me in his stead, so he could be there to oppose them if necessary. Why would professional soldiers zero in on the stronger of two targets?"

"Well, whatever the answer is, I think we can safely concentrate our defensive efforts on Mahora," said Eishun. "We should also give some thought to driving the Hunters away from the main gate. That way we can send a warning through to the other side as well as request reinforcements. But in regards to our offensive goal, we have recently uncovered the location of the Hunters' primary headquarters and I believe it would be best to launch an attack against that place before they can muster their defenses."

Another moment of impressed silence.

"N-now wait a minute!" Poland's leader protested suddenly. "I'll go along with attacking first, but let's not rush directly into the regions most firmly under their control. My organization was among the first to encounter the Hunters' original membership in combat, so I know what I'm talking about when I say that fighting them without the full power of the Crimson Wing would be suicide!"

"All right, Isidore, calm down," said Konoemon. "We all well know the power wielded by Aleric and his original team, they who were once nicknamed the 'Six Shadow Stars.' But the fact of the matter is that right now we cannot avoid the risk of fighting mighty opponents. Additionally it is highly unlikely that we will encounter all six of them gathered together in one place, at least at this early stage."

Now Professor Akashi spoke up. "The main idea behind attacking first is to avoid being overwhelmed. Right now the Hunters are scattered all over the world, most likely attempting to get their allies organized, and probably won't be expecting to have to defend a location that seems to be totally hidden. If we can take down the most powerful of their fortresses while its guard is minimal, we can start the process of cutting off their supply routes and isolating their strongest forces."

"Speaking of those allies," added the representative from Good Samaritans, "we'll also have to have our agents abroad start to badger them. These corrupt administrations can't be allowed to get away with their disloyalty."

"Yes, of course," said Eishun. "However, this meeting is only to decide a general course of action. All the detail work will have to be hammered out with our subordinates as well as with one another. So right now all we really need is consensus on this proposed strategy." He turned to look at the head of the Polish Association. "Can we count on you for support?"

The man sat still for a few moments, his face impassive. Then he sighed. "Very well. But we will not directly participate in the combat. We'll help with transportation and healing magic, but I'm not going to send my subordinates running to their deaths."

"That is not anyone's intent," said Konoemon gravely. "Now then, we'd best get everything organized. We shall undoubtedly begin to receive reports of preliminary skirmishes soon and must move fast if we are to take the Hunters' base by surprise."

It was then that someone who had remained silent through the whole meeting decided to speak up. The interesting thing about that, though, was that absolutely nobody had detected this person's presence before. In fact, even now as he began speaking aloud to himself, it was as if his voice were utterly muted.

"Their plan is sound," said the being wrapped in the rainbow cloak. "Sadly, I must now dash their hopes for gaining the advantage of surprise." The concealed man tilted his head slightly, exposing a small smirk, though it still could not be seen. "But it's their own fault, I suppose. They chose to have a war counsel in the one place their enemy has an untouchable spy." 

XXXXXXX

Alexander quickly jumped from boulder to boulder, before leaping into the open air off a cliff side, forming a shield of water as he went. Almost immediately, one of Rakan's _ki_ energy blasts flew out in front of him and exploded in a tremendous ball of light and heat.

"Rakan-Impact!"

The attack evaporated Alexander's water shield and he was sent spinning by the shockwave. As Alexander tried to stop his uncontrolled descent Rakan suddenly appeared next to him, seized him by the collar of his cloak, and hurled him back toward the mountainside.

"Rakan-Mega-Wild-Throw!"

The blue-robed Shadow Hunter was about two seconds away from slamming headfirst into the rock face and only barely managed to cast a magical barrier in time to protect himself. Even then such a hastily summoned shield could not absorb all of the impact and Alexander bounced off the mountain and skidded to a halt on the hard gravel of the plateau. The Hunter, bleeding from several wounds and his cloak torn, pushed himself up on his hands and looked forward. As expected, there was Rakan, confident as ever and appearing quite pleased that he had finally landed some good hits.

"You reacted pretty quick there," said Rakan. "But it looks like I finally found your weaknesses." The larger man smiled his all-knowing-veteran smile. "Your ability to predict all of your opponent's moves before they happen is really something. It's the one thing that renders all my extra battle experience useless." Rakan paused to hold up an index finger. "But just because you can see my moves in advance doesn't mean you have the physical ability to dodge them; that's your first weakness. If an attack is faster than your own reflexes, or simply has a too wide of an attack range for you to escape from, you'll take the hit just the same as if you didn't see it coming."

Alexander tiredly nodded his head. "Yes, that's correct," he said. "Very good. That's about what I'd expect from the Thousand Master's rival."

"And there's another weakness as well," continued Rakan. "It sure seems like you need to maintain concentration for you to use that fortune-telling magic of yours. If you get distracted you'll lose the flow of images on your enemy's next move. You're still pretty good with that water magic of yours, but so long as I can keep you off balance and not let you gather your wits you don't really pose much of a threat at all!"

Alexander pressed his lips together. Even if it was true, there was nothing more irritating than listening to someone else's gloating.

Suddenly there was a powerful burst of fire from somewhere nearby, and Rakan's partner Kagetarou appeared next to him, some parts of his clothing smoldering and his mask fractured. A second later, Gaul the dragon appeared, bearing a few scratches himself, but otherwise looking more energized by the fight.

Kagetarou turned his masked face toward his highly muscular ally. "I've fought and defeated powerful dragons before," he said, "but this one is really something else. He's ultra-strong, even by the standards dragons set."

Gaul bared all of his razor-sharp teeth in a smile, which Rakan returned. "Don't worry about it, Kage-chan," said the martial artist. "Once I'm done with this guy here, I'll be able to come give you a hand. I'm just about done, anyway."

The nearby dragon ceased smiling and let out a snort, expelling a puff of smoke from his nostrils. "You know, Alexander," the dragon growled, "if things keep going like this, we'll get beaten. So are you planning on getting serious any time soon or do I have to carry this whole show?"

Alexander grunted, pushed at the ground, and climbed to his feet. He wobbled slightly as he wiped blood away from his mouth. "You needn't worry," said Alexander. "The outcome of this battle has already…" Alexander abruptly stopped speaking and ducked his head, narrowly avoiding a sucker punch from Rakan. The Hunter then quickly retreated from the elder mercenary's follow-up strike. After pulling his embedded fist from the ground Rakan smirked at his enemy.

"I hope that means you've got something else up your sleeve. 'Cause if you don't, well, this fight's going to be pretty damn boring, wouldn't you say?"

"Perhaps," said Alexander. "But it's already known that you're not indestructible, despite what all your titles might suggest. Correct me if I'm wrong, but at the height of your power you were once defeated by Cosmo Entelecheia's leader, the Mage of the Beginning."

Rakan's smile faded. "What about it?" he asked sternly.

"It is of great importance, Jacobus Rakan," replied the Shadow Hunter, who was now mimicking his opponent's former smirk. "You were defeated once, and now you shall suffer defeat again." In a flash Alexander had reached into his cloak and withdrawn a single, paper-thin object. "After all, for an 'Ultimate Veteran' such as yourself, my artifact is the worst kind of weapon…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You know, I think it was last week that I just happened to look at the 'last updated' date for this story and I said "F&#%! It's been that long already?" I was quickly overwhelmed by guilt and finished this chapter as soon as I could. In hindsight though, I think part of the problem was that I disagreed with a number of the plot twists that Negima took before and while I was writing it.

Shiori changing sides and giving Negi information, Zazie having an identical older twin sister, and the Grave Master's sudden betrayal, all seemed a bit too… convenient, in my opinion. And the way that Homura, Koyomi, and Tamaki got smacked around was pretty disappointing as well! Shirabe's later hard-fought victory and Tsukuyomi's impressive use of the Hina Blade do buy Cosmo Entelecheia's ladies some redemption but I still think they got a bad deal. And speaking of bad deals, there's Quartum, Quintum, and Sextum Averruncus too! Seriously, what's the point of introducing three powerful new characters if they're just going to get blasted four or five chapters later?

Anyway, what this all boils down to is that I have reached my limit in terms of connections between this story and the original manga. I'll keep Poyo Rainyday around (if for no other reason than it was her entrance and the circumstances surrounding it that sucked the most) and maybe the new Averrunci as well, but that's it. I must now officially cut the source material off at the knees!

I also apologize if this chapter seems as slow to you as it does to me. But after such a long hiatus I'm going to need a little time to get back into the swing of things.

Now on a completely unrelated note, I was horrified to learn of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan last month. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this tragic event and I honestly wish I could afford to travel there and help out in person. I have to admire Ken Akamatsu for keeping his sense of humor though. He posted this on Twitter:

"_I'll add that, at times of disaster, paper manga magazines like Weekly are better than e-readers. They can be used both as fuel and as a cushion. And I'm not joking when I say that they're useful in the washroom. You can't do that with an iPad."_

It makes sense _and_ it has toilet humor. What else could you expect from the creator of Love Hina and Negima? I'll see you all next time!


	28. Hell March

I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima. I only own the OCs in this fic.

Author Shout-Outs:

HikariNoTenshi-San: Yeah, Gaul is kind of mean but that's just part of his charm! Thanks for staying with me!

Arct1cfox: Thank you! I don't particularly like cliffhangers either but they are a necessary part of any truly dramatic story.

ColinatorGX: Oh my, no! I have something entirely different planned for my braincase brainchild!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Bold **– Chanting in Greek

Underlined – Chanting in Latin 

**Shadow Hunters **

Chapter XXVIII

Hell March

Aleric stood in the lair of Cosmo Entelecheia, his head inclined respectfully. After successfully alerting his Magic Association allies to the impending conflict, the Shadow Hunter leader had come here to do the same with the Crimson Wing's old foes. Fate, Dynamis, and the cloaked mage known as the Master of the Grave stood before him with Fate's partners scattered about the room as well. Of Tsukuyomi there was no sign; apparently the swordswoman had gotten in trouble and had been relegated to guard duty in the most peaceful sector surrounding the base. But the maniac-girl's suffering was not really of any concern to anyone at the moment.

"So," Aleric was saying, "…if it isn't too much of a bother, I should like to borrow Dynamis from you guys for the assault on Mahora."

Dynamis' visible eye closed and Aleric imagined if he could see under the shadow-user's mask he would be wearing a contemplative look.

"I am sure you are aware that this was nowhere in our original agreement, Aleric," Dynamis began gravely. "Our stated role in your plan is merely to aid your forces with the subjugation of the Hellas Empire's government, not to wage war with the true human magicians of the Old World. The only reason for our battle with Takamichi and his underlings was to ensure that we could fulfill our obligation to this plan of yours."

Aleric nodded. "I know I'm asking a lot, perhaps too much, but Mahora's defenses are as mighty as any in the Magic World. And with our strength divided among so many other crucial sites I will not be able to gather the kind of power necessary to ensure a successful strike there without your help."

"I would think that wouldn't be a problem," quipped the Grave Master. "You do still have Negi as your subordinate, no? Surely the two of you together would be strong enough, even with only minimal backup?"

Aleric shook his head. "I am… reluctant to have Negi attack Mahora again," he replied. "He already has to deal with the deaths of two of his friends within a relatively short time span. If I order him to assist me with the attack he could very well be forced into a situation where he might have to kill another of his old students himself. That is something that I'll work to prevent as long as it is in my power."

Fate raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't know you better, Aleric, I'd say that you're mollycoddling Negi-kun. Terrible things happen in war, particularly civil wars like this is going to be. There's no way that you're going to be able to shield him or anyone else from that reality for long."

"As pragmatic as ever, I see," Aleric said with a smirk. "But I think that I might be able to say the same about you. You always go to great pains to make sure your Ministra are never harmed in combat, right?" The girls looked somewhat uncomfortable while Fate's expression somehow managed to be frustrated, mollified, and blank all at once. Aleric ignored this curiosity and plowed forward. "Anyway, I do have a strategic reason for keeping Negi away from Mahora as well. You see…"

"Enough," Dynamis interrupted. "Any further debate at this point is useless. Action is what is required. I will go with Aleric to Mahora, and the rest of you are to carry out your prearranged assignments as dictated by this alliance. Agreed?"

"Very well," said Fate, sounding bored.

"It is, as they say, your nickel," said the Grave Master. "But if Aleric will wait just a moment longer, I have a recommendation for someone else he might take along with him…"

XXXXXXX

"_Are you sure we're being followed? I can't sense anyone!"_

"_You're relying too much on your magic, dumb ass! And for God's sake, keep your voice down! We have to make sure not to draw the attention of any of these normal people! We need to find an isolated spot to deal with these bastards!" _

"_Excuse me, sir, is there a problem?" _

"_Oh!... ah, er… well, not really, officer…"_

XXXXXXX

Konoemon, head of the Kanto Magic Association and now prominent member of the United Magi Loyalist Front, carefully studied the young people before him. Their group of five had confronted him in the hallway outside his office and that's where everyone was currently standing. "I hope you all realize," he started slowly, "that what you're asking is extremely dangerous."

"We know, sir," said Yue evenly. "But there really is no other way. Tredecim cannot be allowed to roam free during this time of upheaval, and with so many of our more experienced agents needed for the war effort, that makes Nodoka, Chachamaru, and myself the best candidates to chase after her, as we have all encountered her once before."

"Also, sir," Chachamaru chimed in, "Kazumi and Sayo hired Negi and his team to protect them from thugs that we now believe Tredecim to be associated with. This, combined with their own innate talents in reconnaissance, will hopefully enable us to pick up on her trail with relative quickness. If I may be so bold, sir, among the rookies of this organization our group stands not only the greatest chance of survival but also the greatest chance of success."

Konoemon stared hard at the robot-girl for several seconds. He then let out a long breath. "Of course, for the five of you this is not simply a mission. This is a personal quest of vengeance, is it not?"

Nodoka and Yue visibly stiffened. "We…will not let our anger get the better of us, Konoemon-sama," said Nodoka. "It is very obvious that we are no match for her in direct combat. However, we do not plan to let it become a direct confrontation. Our intention in chasing her down is not to attack her but to pinpoint her location and keep tabs on her and her activities. We already face a superior opponent in the Shadow Hunters; we cannot afford to be attacked from behind as well."

Konoemon nodded once. "True," he conceded.

"Also, Konoemon-sama," Yue started again, "I believe that I have uncovered some of the secrets behind Tredecim's attacks."

The old man's nod was more approving this time. Despite the fact that he felt he must already know what Yue was going to say, as well as how she had come by the information, he found himself impressed by the initiative and maturity she was showing. After all, he himself had gone searching through his data stores once Takamichi had told him of their old foe's show of power. If Yue and her cohorts were levelheaded enough to set aside their hurt feelings and devise a solid plan then maybe they were up to the task of following Tredecim.

"Let's hear it," he said.

"Well sir, Tredecim herself said a few things about her powers back when she attacked us, so I started using my artifact to search for spells or curses that could fit with her monologue." Yue summoned the book that was the main feature of her Pactio and continued to talk as she flipped though the holographic screens it projected. "At one point, she was partially petrified by Fate Averruncus, but instead of reversing the petrification directly as one might expect, she broke off that entire section of her body and re-grew it. Afterwards she stated quite clearly that it was because of Haruna's death that she was able to do this. So the first things I began looking into were advanced or forbidden regeneration spells." Yue turned her book around so that her elder could read the exposed pages. "And what I eventually found was this."

Konoemon read the words aloud. "Tutela Anthropophagus - The Arts of Cannibalistic Protection." Konoemon closed his sunken eyes. "Yes," he said. "Of all the spells that exist in either world there are none that are more vile than this one."

Yue's mouth was set in a thin line. "Most definitely. This spell offers its master a form of immortality, at the expense of the people around. To give one example, if the user were to kill someone with a sword to the chest while using the spell, it would thereafter prevent the user from dying due to any kind of fatal stab wound. Essentially what it does is create a kind of reverse karma; it ensures that as long as the caster commits acts of violence and cruelty none of these things can cause him or her any kind of permanent harm."

Mahora's headmaster wore an expression of supreme disgust. "And what have you found on the other forbidden power that Tredecim used?"

Yue gestured with her hand and her artifact's display changed entirely. "The second spell, sir, is known as the Laesione Spiritus Limo or the 'Wounding Spirit Slime'. It's used to summon a kind of spectral goo that can be shaped and hardened at will. And, as I discovered first hand, any person struck by this substance will become totally immune to any kind of healing spell." The young mage closed her book with a snap. "Wielding this in combination with the Tutela Anthropophagus, it seems incredible to me that Tredecim isn't more famous than she seems to be."

Konoemon grunted. "That mostly has to do with the fact that we believed her to have died during the last war. Obviously Fate Averruncus and his fellows knew better but they had the considered advantage of knowing that she possessed these spells. In fact, when she was counted among the ranks of Cosmo Entelecheia, Tredecim's main claim to fame was not her magic but her diplomatic skills. It was she who brought many of the mob bosses and arms dealers fought by the Crimson Wing into their enemies' sphere of influence. So, really, even we had no idea of the woman's true power until now."

"I see," said Yue quietly.

"Also," Konoemon continued, "her personality seems to have changed since she was last seen as well. In the few face-to-face encounters that the Thousand Master and the others had with her some twenty-four years ago, Tredecim always seemed to be cool and collected. She still enjoyed taunting her foes but she did so in a much more deliberate, much calmer way. However, when your group encountered her she was far more… immature in both her speech and manner. From the change you'd think that she had regressed twenty-four years in age rather than the opposite."

A small voice spoke up but was too soft to hear clearly and everyone turned, surprised, to the Sayo doll on Kazumi's shoulder.

"Eh? What was that, Sayo-chan?" asked Kazumi.

Sayo, who had apparently only been thinking out loud to herself, seemed to be very embarrassed and stuttered as she began to repeat herself.

"O-oh! Ah, er, w-well I was just thinking that that might actually be possible. Tredecim becoming younger, I mean."

"Why do you think that, Sayo-san?" asked Nodoka.

"Well, because she has that Tutela Anthropophagus spell," Sayo answered. "Yue said that that spell prevents you from dying in the same way as your opponents, right? I was just wondering if that could apply to death from old age as well."

"I don't see how it could though," said Yue, shaking her head. "Old age means a natural death and one of the conditions for getting the Tutela Anthropophagus to work is for the user to play some direct role in the target person's untimely demise. Simply waiting around for someone to age to death isn't going to cut it." But just then Yue's eyes widened and then narrowed as if remembering something. "It shouldn't," she said, looking off to the side, "Unless…"

"Yue-san, what is it?" This time it was Chachamaru who was asking. "What have you thought of?"

"Evangeline's resort," said Yue. "An enclosed location… where the flow of time is distorted… yes, that might work." The blue-haired girl shook her head and turned to address everyone again. "Actually, Sayo-san, I believe it _is_ possible for Tredecim to regress in age."

"Wha…? But you just said…"

"I had forgotten to factor in places like Evangeline's resort when I was doing my research," said Yue dismissively. "It probably wouldn't have helped even if I had… there isn't a great deal of information readily available about such an evil art to start with… Anyway, what I'm thinking is that if Tredecim was able to trap somebody in a place like the resort, where time passes so much more quickly, and if she could keep them there, well-fed and out of danger, until they died naturally, then she would have had a hand in an untimely death from old age, wouldn't she?"

The general air of outrage that this prospect caused kept the entire group silent for several seconds before Chachamaru realized another of its implications.

"So, if that's the case, we have no way of knowing how old Tredecim really is," she said. "There's even the chance that she's older than my master!"

Suddenly Konoemon spoke up again. "It's very humbling to find out all this now," he started. "I've already said that this woman has proven far more powerful than we had reason to believe. But even if we had the Thousand Master himself here with us and we weren't facing the outbreak of open war I still would not be reassured. I now have this feeling that tells me Tredecim is more dangerous than even the evidence is telling us."

All the girls felt a chill race up their spines. It was intense enough that they almost missed the next thing Konoemon said."

"I expect all of you to remember that while you're out searching for her."

The impromptu meeting was quickly concluded after that and the troop of Yue, Nodoka, Chachamaru, Kazumi, and Sayo set out to gather any equipment they might need as well as to say farewell to their remaining friends. But with everything that had been said one thought was nagging at the backs of their minds.

Was success supposed to feel this ominous?

XXXXXXX

"_Can you see anything?"_

"_Yeah, I can see them. I count thirty, but there's probably more than that. What do you guys think? Are they waiting for the same thing we are?"_

"_Oh, yeah. After all, these battles are supposed to be secret. At some point our concealment barrier spells are going to join up, and then we'll be able to fight as much as we want." _

"_Provided we don't get any normal people caught up in the crossfire. There's still quite a lot of civilian traffic on the lake."_

"_Well, it _is_ Lake Geneva. But you guys really ought to be ready to charge in there soon; we're almost done with our side of the barrier!"_

"_Right! Okay everybody, eyeballs out, weapons and wands at the ready! We have a mission to accomplish and if these assholes are going to stand in our way that's too bad for them! Now let's get cracking!"_

XXXXXXX

Satomi Hakase, the second most intelligent member of Negi's old class (actually, _the_ most intelligent since the departure of her good friend Chao), sat with her back against a wall, patiently observing the movements of the Mahora Academy personnel as they rushed to and fro on the nearby sidewalk. There was a small device on her left ear that allowed her to overhear a lot of what the magic-users were saying and she was taking down most of what she heard in the notebook beside her. This was not picked up on thanks to the other small machine that sat in front of her. It was a grey box with a dial and indicator on the front and a single antenna on top.

Satomi put down her pen and retrieved a voice recorder from her coat pocket. "It looks like stealth field generator No. Two-Seven-Six is a complete success," she said into the mike. "Using ordinary batteries in combination with the trace amounts of magical power in the environment has proven far more efficient than either alone. No one has been able to see or hear me while I stay within the device's six meter radius. The fact that the range is still so limited is a concern but I'm sure it can be improved with time and effort. Overall, this model has produced a very satisfactory showing."

Of course, most of this was normal if you were familiar with Satomi Hakase. She was always busy with one project or another and had a certain reputation for lacking in common sense. Whether it was using far too much electricity in her experimental robots and burning out the entire university science building's power grid or simply leaving her undies lying on top of the coffee maker in the lab, Satomi was known to be brilliant but ditzy. Still, many of the inventions she had a hand in worked beautifully; Chachamaru stood as the ultimate example of this, though Satomi did not take credit for it. In fact, the only thing about this scene that would strike anyone familiar with the girl as odd would be the fact that she was unquestionably spying on the Mahora Academy mages, something that she had not done for years.

"This test has also had the side-effect of enabling me to obtain an interesting bit of information from some of the teachers," Satomi continued. "I will relay this data to Tredecim-sempai as soon as it is safe to do so."

But this statement would have stuck nearly anyone as being odd.

Tredecim was not Satomi's senior in any of her areas of study but she had been receiving orders from her for a little over a year now so the term 'sempai' was not so unusual. But why was Satomi taking orders from Tredecim to begin with? If asked, both parties would have given different answers, one more true than the other. Satomi would say that it was because the two of them were friends and that friends help friends. Tredecim, on the other hand, would have offered that it was because Satomi did not have the magical power nor the force of will to fight off the mind-control spell she had placed on her. Sadly it was Tredecim's answer that held more truth in this case.

Satomi would have been appalled if she had a full understanding of what her present actions meant; that she was, in fact, a traitor to her old friends and a spy for one of the most despicable mages ever to exist. However, recognizing Tredecim and her deeds as evil and that working with her was only going to bring further harm was more than Satomi's now enslaved brain could process. Much in the same way a person who has been chained to a wall cannot move about as they wish, class 3-A's robotics expert was no longer able to even think of not doing as she was told. Satomi Hakase, still so smart, was a prisoner inside her own skull.

Suddenly those controlled thoughts began to race; she was hearing a familiar voice from somewhere nearby.

"…ease, Takahata-sensei. I know there's something different about me and I know that you know what it is. And with everything that's happening… I can't afford to be the only one that doesn't know. You have to tell me… about what I really am."

It was Asuna. Apparently both she and Takahata were standing near the railing at the top of the wall she had her back pressed to. There was a moment's silence before the teacher answered.

"You're right, Asuna-kun," he said. "Your past has been kept from you for too long already."

Satomi was intrigued. Takahata was about to reveal what he knew of Asuna's destiny as the Twilight Imperial Princess. Tredecim had already told her a bit of that old story but hadn't covered everything and, despite her brainwashing, Satomi's supremely curious nature remained. Besides which, Takahata might also end up saying something that could be of use to Tredecim so it was her job to listen in.

After double-checking stealth field generator No. Two-Seven-Six to be sure that it was still working, Satomi settled in for a very interesting outdoor history lesson.

XXXXXXX

"_Everyone, get down!" _

"_Gah!" _

"_What the hell? Are they crazy? There are still civilians in this area!" _

"_Maybe the #&% *$^'s decided that taking us out is worth the risk!" _

"_Well, anyway it doesn't matter. We can't afford to get bogged down here! We'll just have to… UGH!"_

"_IRVING!" _

"_Too lax." _

"_What the…?" _

"_Y-You…! ARGH!"_

"_GAK!" _

"_Way too lax." _

XXXXXXX

Pain. Both the throbbing kind that comes from blunt-force trauma and broken bones as well as the piercing, stinging kind that burn trauma brings. Kagetarou registered both of these as his consciousness returned to him.

"What the… ohh…"

Memories of an intense battle that had ended badly surged back. The aches and pains pulsed slightly harder with this knowledge.

"Damn… damn dragon…"

Kagetarou levered himself up on one arm and attempted to take stock of his surroundings. Now he could see that he was lying in a shallow crater of some kind as his vision was partially obstructed by its outer rim. The mountainside plateau beyond was littered with melted rocks, unnaturally created fissures, and even a few spots where the stone had been ground to sand by extreme water-pressure.

"_It's… it's so quiet,"_ realized Kagetarou. _"Judging from this silence there can be little doubt that the fight is over. But if that's the case… did Rakan-dono beat that dragon and his little fortune-teller or else did they…?"_ Kagetarou ruthlessly squashed that notion._ "Rakan-dono has always prevailed when the odds are stacked against him! There's no way that they could have won, even if it was two-on-one!"_ Very slowly the defeated warrior tried to rise. In doing so he found that his left leg was broken in three places, forcing him to use his shadow magic to create a cane.

"R-Rakan-d-dono…?" Kagetarou called out once he was mostly upright. He cursed himself for how feeble his voice sounded, limped several steps forward, and then tried again. "Rakan-dono!"

His yell echoed all throughout the surrounding environment but did not result in any reply. Kagetarou's anxiety level shot up another notch and he began to stagger as quickly as he could across the plain. His haste caused him to first lose his footing and then his concentration, dispelling his cane and sending him toppling over. Kagetarou gasped and coughed as the fall made his three cracked ribs much more apparent.

"Damn it!" he cursed when he regained his breath. "Come on, you fool, get it together! This isn't the first time you've taken a beating like this and Rakan-dono has endured far worse!" Kagetarou shook his head and ended up looking off to his right. "I should be able to…"

The words froze in his throat as his very brief search came to a close. There was Jack Rakan, lying slumped against a rock-face. The champion fighter's jaw was broken and his head rested inside a small crevice that was too perfect a fit to be natural. But more of an attention-grabber was that both of Jack's arms were totally missing; there was absolutely nothing below those old scars that ringed his massive biceps.

Kagetarou had been correct: Rakan had certainly taken a much worse beating than he.

XXXXXXX

"_Class is over!" _

"_YAY!"_

"_All right, everyone, it may be the weekend but I'd like to remind you all that your reports on the Secret War are due on Monday!" _

"_Aw geez, I totally forgot!"_

"_Me too!"_

"_Well, you'd best get working then, hadn't you?"_

"_How did you guys forget? I did mine last week."_

"_Nobody wants to hear it from _you_, Lingshen! You're the smartest kid in class _and_ your ancestors fought in that war! Of course you'd know all about it, even without studying!"_

"_Eheheheh…"_

"_Come on guys, the bell's already rung! Let's just get out of here and we'll worry about homework when we're, you know, _home_!"_

XXXXXXX

Negi Springfield sat in a meditative position trying to clear his head.

It wasn't working.

No matter what mental exercises he put himself through, he just couldn't seem to stop himself from brooding. Not too long ago he had finally, _finally_, gotten to sit down with Anya and Nekane, had managed to explain some of the situation to them, and was about to reassure them that he hadn't forgotten about them when Lady Harley came busting in with several unhappy revelations. First, one of his old students (Chisame) was being held prisoner in the very building he was sitting in but she would be released once her artifact had been sealed away. Second, Chamo, his magical familiar, had been killed by the curse that was on the knowledge of the Shadow Hunters' ultimate plan. (This had particularly stung in light of Haruna's recent demise.) Third, and most fun of all, the Hunters now had to wage open war to make that plan a reality. Nekane and Anya had had to leave not long after that and Harley had to get everything in the fortress organized, so Negi had been left alone to stew.

Negi had known from the start that Aleric's method fundamentally required fighting, but he had hoped that it wouldn't escalate this fast or become so all-inclusive. They had originally been aiming to get things done as quickly as possible and to save any large battles for the endgame, but now, with all the resistance that was mounting, it promised to be a protracted, wasteful conflict. Many people were going to die and he, Negi, was going to have to find a way to deal with it.

"_Maybe I was a fool for thinking I could avoid it,"_ the Shadow Hunter captain thought to himself. _"No matter what path I chose there was always some kind of bloodshed on it. That's just the sort of destiny that I was born with."_

Just then there was a knock on his door.

"What is it?" Negi asked.

"Umm, it's me," came Rebecca's voice. "We've just gotten our assignment. We're going to be part of Operation Chopper-Mine. They want us to gear-up and get into position ASAP."

Negi was silent for a moment. "All right," he replied at last. "Make sure Sati and Herald are ready and go on over there. I'll meet you all there."

Rebecca acknowledged him with a 'Yes, sir' and departed. Once more alone Negi noticed that the many questions that had been flying around in his head had been replaced with just one.

"_Why on earth are we going with _that _plan?"_

XXXXXXX

"_Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."  
-Winston Churchill_

XXXXXXX

Alrighty people, it's been over a year since my last update and I am very angry with myself for it. But I do have something of an explanation for it, at least.

If you guys remember me saying last time that I had found myself disappointed with some of Negima's plot twists… well, let's just say that that became rather common towards the end of the series. The best way I can describe how those last thirty or so chapters made me feel is to start by imagining if you were watching the original Star Wars trilogy for the first time. Now imagine if you had just gotten through both "A New Hope" and "Empire Strikes Back" and instead of getting "Return of the Jedi" you get something that reminds you of one of the sub-par installments from the Godzilla series. It's not that I've come to hate Negima (far from it, actually) it's just that I'm a serious fan of serious drama and after such a good start the ending felt like a cop-out. Maybe it's my own fault for expecting too much but there it is.

However, even though I was beginning to find the manga a let-down, I kept reading (I'm loyal that way). The main effect of this, it turns out, was to sap my will to continue writing _this_ story and that's why this chapter is so late. So the main upshot of the manga ending (for me anyway) is that I have been released from my mental and emotional cage and am free to finish this story!

Speaking of cages, I've begun reading another manga called Cage of Eden. For anyone who has not heard of this manga I highly recommend it.


End file.
